By syringe feeding/fluid administration I mean actually putting food/fluids into a syringe and then feeding/hydrating the resident with the syringe.
I haven't heard of this for at least 7 years. There was some research about 10 years ago indicated since sucking is a fairly permanent reflex, putting thin milkshake consistency pureed food into a piston syringe and allowing the resident to suck it out was an acceptable method of feeding. We were told by the survey team at the time that we had to develop a protocol to insure that staff did not use a "bulb syringe" that could force the foods into the back of the resident's mouth, even if the facility did not want to use the syringe as a feeding tool. (remember this was years ago). I haven't seen the use of a syringe as appropriate feeding method in the literature for years and years.
I certainly would not encourage using a syringe for feeding.
