We are delighted to have been able to support the creation of a world-first course teaching nasogastric tube feeding in children.
The SUCCEED Child Feeding Alliance in Australia has spent several years developing the new training course for anyone who needs to learn how to safely use a nasogastric tube with a child.
Their goal is to make the two-hour hands-on workshop accessible across Australia, and beyond, to enable more people to get involved in feeding youngsters who rely on tubes, including grandparents, aunts, uncles, nannies and childcare workers, as well as their parents.
SUCCEED needed a training model which could effectively show parents different tubes in relation to children’s anatomy, and to offer practical hands-on experience for carers learning not only to safely administer a tube feed, but to create an inclusive meal-time experience.
The alliance approached us after hearing about our AR331 Hungry Manikin Paediatric Nasogastric Feeding Trainer from one of their patient’s carers, and we were of course happy to help.
Like all Adam,Rouilly medical simulators and models, the AR331 Hungry Manikin is designed to enable the provision of high quality healthcare education using superior products.
The unique Hungry Manikin was designed by nurses from Birmingham Children’s Hospital specifically to assist in the teaching of nasogastric and gastrostomy tube insertion and feeding in children.
It is transparent so trainees can see where the tube should sit and understand the importance of aspiration before offering a feed through a nasogastric tube.
The model also has a moveable epiglottis and is anatomically correct for training on all aspects of both stomach and nose feeding.
Tariq Shahab, Adam,Rouilly Director of Sales and Marketing, said: “We’ve been providing models and simulators to assist in medical education for over 100 years and it’s always incredibly rewarding to see our products being used in such important ways.
“We were delighted to send a Hungry Manikin across the world to Australia and help the SUCCEED alliance pilot this vital new course.
“Modified dolls that were used in the past to train medical staff, carers and families, were neither sufficiently realistic, nor anatomically correct, which made it difficult to simulate the positioning of the nasogastric or gastrostomy devices.
“Nutrition is vital and where tube feeding is concerned this relies not only on safety, but on a comfortable meal-time experience. By using the Hungry Manikin model, carers can feel more in control with greater confidence in their ability to use the tube safely. This helps to overcome initial fears and minimise any stress caused by the process.
“It will be incredible to see this course rolled out more widely to help more families and children across the world.”
The pilot training course was put together by SUCCEED Child Feeding Alliance co-founders Dr Chris Elliot, Professor Nick Hopwood, Anna Lerado and Anjana Regmi. It was created on the back of six years of qualitative research and interviews with families, speech pathologists, nurses, dieticians and doctors.
Following the pilot, Dr Chris Elliot said: “The session was a great success and actually very emotional for us all as it has been many years in the making. It reinforced to us the manikin’s importance and the hands-on experience it provides.
“The goal was to get feedback and make changes. The overwhelming response was positive. The materials, concepts and flow of the course are definitely feasible, useful, safe and accessible to people without any background in tube feeding. The manikin performed beautifully and met all our needs.
“All in all it was an historic day for SUCCEED and we could not have done it without Adam,Rouilly’s support.”
The course will be further developed with videos and materials with the aim of being released in a limited format this year, before being rolled out across Australia and around the world, backed up by free online resources, from 2025.
You can read more about the training programme on the SUCCEED website.
