Nursing Hub

Welcome to the Endoscopy Nursing Hub.
This resource is for qualified nurses working in adult endoscopy in the UK. It is designed to support day-to-day clinical work, revision, and ongoing professional development. It focuses on practical nursing knowledge, safe patient care, and early recognition of problems.


Disclaimer

This site is for registered nurses and experienced endoscopy staff working in adult services. It is suitable for newer endoscopy nurses, developing nurses, and senior nurses supporting more complex work. It is not designed as a student nursing resource. Please adhere to local polices and guidelines.

NEET ERCP & EUS Training booklet

Patient pathway and safety checks

  • Every endoscopy nurse should understand the full patient pathway from admission to discharge.
  • This includes checking identity, allergies, indication for the procedure, relevant comorbidity, anticoagulants, diabetes medication, fasting status where needed, pregnancy status where relevant, and whether the patient is fit for the planned test.
  • Structured safety checks such as stop moments and time-outs help reduce avoidable errors. e.g prior to starting a procedure and at the end of a procedure

Sedation awareness

  • All endoscopy nurses need a practical understanding of sedation.
  • Sedation should be matched to the patient, the procedure, and the level of complexity.
  • Some patients may be suitable for no sedation.
  • Frail, older, or comorbid patients often need smaller doses and slower increments.
  • Patients with obesity or obstructive sleep apnoea may need closer monitoring.

Monitoring during and after the procedure

  • Monitoring is a key nursing responsibility.
  • Nurses should know the patient’s baseline observations and continue monitoring throughout the procedure and into recovery.
  • This includes pulse, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, and respiratory rate.
  • Recovery should continue until the patient has returned to baseline.

Positioning and patient care

  • Safe positioning is a practical part of safe endoscopy in certain endoscopies such as colonoscopy the patient may need to be turned to aid the endoscopist. Others such as ERCP start of with the patient prone.
  • Nurses need to understand the planned position, protect pressure areas, secure lines and monitoring, and watch how position changes affect the airway, access, and monitoring quality.
  • This is especially important in prone or semi-prone ERCP and in patients with obesity, frailty, or poor mobility.

Airway awareness

  • Airway safety is especially important during upper GI procedures, ERCP, EUS, longer cases, and whenever sedation doses increase.
  • Nurses should recognise early warning signs such as snoring, obstructed breathing, reduced responsiveness, vomiting, hypoventilation, and falling oxygen levels.
  • If reversal drugs are used, the patient still needs ongoing observation.

Recovery and discharge

  • Recovery and discharge are safety-critical stages of care.
  • Discharge is a clinical decision, not just a transport step.
  • The patient should be stable, appropriately recovered, and screened for complications.
  • Patients who have had sedation need both written and verbal advice, including contact details and clear instructions about restrictions for the next 24 hours.

Infection prevention and decontamination

  • All endoscopy nurses should understand the basics of infection prevention and decontamination, even if they are not decontamination leads.
  • They should know the local pathway for contaminated scopes, clean and dirty flow, damaged equipment reporting, accessory handling, and where to find local SOPs.

Communication and teamwork

  • Safe endoscopy depends on good communication and teamwork. Briefing, time-out, debriefing, situational awareness, and speaking up all matter. Nurses should feel confident to raise concerns early if something about the patient, procedure, equipment, consent, or recovery does not seem right.

The National Endoscopy Training Programme

All endoscopy courses can be found and booked via the JETS website.

Courses and Recommended Timing

  • NEET Course April run annually by the Freeman

National Meetings

Updated on: 18/3/2026


Endoscopy

GIEQs https://www.gieqs.com/index.php
British Soceity of Gastroenterology
Endoscopy Atlas
Gastro Atlas