Interviews with 15 ICU professionals at one Chinese tertiary hospital identified four prone-position-specific barriers to enteral nutrition: conflict between airway priorities and feeding schedules, additional equipment and monitoring demands, lack of targeted training, and coordination problems. The findings can inform workflow design but do not measure complications or patient outcomes.
Key findings
- The four themes were: airway-management priorities competing with feeding time; added demands for positioning equipment and temperature monitoring when access is restricted; absence of prone-specific training protocols; and communication gaps between positioning schedules and feeding coordination.
Why this matters globally
As prone ventilation is used for severe respiratory failure, maintaining nutrition without adding risk is a shared ICU challenge. The themes provide a systems checklist for communication protocols, team simulation and role design.
Thai researcher contribution
Lead and corresponding author Zhenxiu Yu holds an affiliation with Khon Kaen University's Faculty of Nursing alongside Chinese institutions. The Thai contribution is critical-care nursing collaboration and systems interpretation; all fieldwork occurred in Sichuan.
Limitations to consider
Fifteen participants from one ICU limit transferability across institutions and cultures. Saturation depends on researcher judgement, patient and family perspectives are absent, and no data were collected on caloric delivery, aspiration or clinical outcomes.