Outcome of educational workshop in swallowing rehabilitation for nurse

Abstract

Swallowing problem is common in stroke survivors and aging. As imbalance healthcare professionals, swallowing rehabilitation in Thailand was approached as trans-disciplinary team. Some tasks of other health care professions has been shifting to nurses. Therefore the 2-day education program in swallowing rehabilitation was conducted to improve knowledge and skill for nurses. This study aimed to determine the knowledge of nurse in swallowing rehabilitation. The 2-days workshop which consisted of basic physiology of swallowing, dysphagia screening test, compensatory technique and exercise, diet modification, chest physical therapy and oral health care for patient with dysphagia was conducted in 2 general hospitals located in Northern and Southern part of Thailand. All participants were asked to complete the test before and after attending workshop. The test was 20 True/False questions; 7 questions about dysphagia, 8 questions about aspiration prevention and 5 questions for swallowing rehabilitation. The passing level was 16 out of 20 scores. Of the 51 nurses who completed pre-test and post-test, 78% had more than 5 years’ experience. Of those participants, 60.8% worked at tertiary healthcare, 27.5% worked at primary healthcare and 11.8% worked at secondary healthcare. Only 27% passed the passing level on pre-test. There was significantly difference in pre-test and post-test scores (15.0 ± 2.4 and 16.9 ± 2.4; P < 0.001). Although 70% of participants could get more scores after workshop, only 53% passed the passing level. Knowledge of swallowing rehabilitation among participants increased after the workshop. However, this study showed that only few days might not sufficient for empowerment, effective continuing educating program should be designed to increase quality of care.