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Swallowing difficulties (dysphagia) occur in 45% of acute stroke patients (DePippo 1994), causing aspiration pneumonia and malnutrition, significantly impairing rehabilitation. The intercollegiate working party for stroke guidelines 2004 state that the patient should have their ‘swallow assessed as soon as possible by a suitably trained specialist who should then advise the patient and staff on safe swallowing and consistency of diet and fluid’. Speech and language therapists (SALTs) are recognised as having the pre-requisite training and skills to assess and manage dysphagic individuals.
Despite nurses being recognised as having an important role in identifying patients at risk (RCSLT 1998, RCP 2000), there is diversity in role definition, where some will be solely screening patients and others will screen, assess and directly manage simple cases.
Professor Caroline Watkins
Elizabeth Boaden
Ben Vickerstaff , Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust
Irene McClelland, Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust
Dr Jim Anson
Dr Cathy Jack
Cheshire & Merseyside Workforce Development Confederation
October 2003
Specifically the following research questions will be explored in a programme of research:
This research is to develop a valid and reliable swallow screening tool that assesses for diet and fluid allowing nurses to fulfil the requirements of the guidelines.
Settings
Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust
A dysphagia screening tool will be developed by identifying the safe texture/fluid from the microbiology results with the pre-existing standardised test for water i.e. thin fluid swallow screen.
The screening tool will be exposed to an expert panel of healthcare professionals working with dysphagia in order to establish face validity. The screening tool will also be discussed with SALTs and nurses using face to face interviews to establish reliable interpretation of the range of factors considered, scoring system and action required.
Validity and reliability (SALT and nurses) will then be explored in intra and inter rater reliability studies.