Abstract

Paediatric home enteral nutrition (HEN) is becoming more common. Existing research and guidelines point to the importance of carer education. However, ongoing HEN care in the community is not well covered, and many of those caring for children with feeding tubes have insufficient training, contributing to safety incidents in paediatric HEN. This article presents a novel gold standard for home nasogastric tube feeding for infants and children. It is developed through interviews with clinicians (n = 13) and parents (n = 4), and revised in consultation with a wider group of clinicians (n = 22), parents (n = 4), researchers (n = 2) and other professionals involved in supporting families with children who tube feed (n = 2). The gold standard reflects the authors' consensus recommendations. Alignment of its features with peer-reviewed research is highlighted. The gold standard considers NG tube feeding at home as a mealtime (rather than medical procedure) that is safe, responsive to the child's cues, and family friendly. Where weaning is expected, it also prepares the child for this.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Paediatrics and Child Health
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print (In Press) - 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 The Author(s). Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Paediatrics and Child Health Division (The Royal Australasian College of Physicians).

Keywords

  • feeding difficulties
  • home enteral nutrition
  • paediatric feeding disorder
  • tube feeding

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