The Effect of Dysphagia Screening education in patients with cerebrovascular accidents on nurses' knowledge and practice

Dysphagia after cerebrovascular accidents can lead to various complications such as pneumonia and patient mortality. Evaluation of dysphagia in these patients by nurses is very important and nurses need to have dysphagia screening knowledge and performance in this area. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of dysphagia screening education in patients with cerebrovascular accidents on nurses knowledge and performance.

This is a pre- and post-intervention study in which 80 nurses of the neurology and emergency departments were randomly divided into two groups of control (n = 40) and intervention (n = 40). The intervention of this study was the educational program of dysphagia evaluation in patients with cerebrovascular accidents. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire, a researcher-made knowledge questionnaire and a performance appraisal checklist. Data was analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistical methods.

The results showed that the mean knowledge (P = 0.075) and nurses’ performance (P = 0.652) of dysphagia screening in the intervention and control groups before the intervention were not statistically significant. After the intervention, there was a statistically significant difference between the control and intervention groups in terms of the knowledge of nurses (P > 0.001). The mean of nurses’ knowledge in the control group was 7.63±2.25 and in the intervention group was 10.65 ± 1.47. Also, the performance of nurses in screening dysphagia was 3.63 ± 2.03 in the control group and 7.85± 1.84 in the intervention group, which was statistically significant (P > 0.001).

Education has an effect on nurses’ knowledge and performance in dysphagia screening in patients with cerebrovascular accidents. Implementing an educational program for nurses caring for these patients can help prevent pneumonia and increase patient safety.