Original Research
Nurses’ knowledge of stroke-related oropharyngeal dysphagia in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
Submitted: 12 March 2020 | Published: 02 September 2020
About the author(s)
Kerry Knight, Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, Faculty of Humanities, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South AfricaBhavani Pillay, Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, Faculty of Humanities, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Jeannie van der Linde, Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, Faculty of Humanities, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Esedra Krüger, Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, Faculty of Humanities, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Abstract
Background: Early identification of stroke-related oropharyngeal dysphagia (OPD) using screening by nurses can prevent adverse patient outcomes in lower middle-income countries. Nurses are essential in the OPD management team and should ideally be able to screen and prioritise dysphagia management in stroke patients.
Objective: The aim of this research was to describe nurses’ practices related to identification and management of patients with stroke-related OPD.
Methods: Qualified nurses from various healthcare levels in the Eastern Cape, South Africa were invited to complete a previously published hard copy survey on the signs and symptoms, complications and management of stroke-related OPD. A sample of 130 participants completed the survey.
Results: The mean scores of correct responses for each section were: 8.7/13 (66.7%) for signs and symptoms, 4.7/10 (47.3%) for complications and 3.8/7 (54.2%) for management practices. Statistically, there were no differences between the levels of healthcare for the signs and symptoms section and the complications section. Regarding management of OPD, secondary-level (S) nurses demonstrated significantly better knowledge than primary-level (P) and tertiary-level (T) nurses (S–P: p = 0.022; S–T: p = 0.010). Secondary-level nurses also scored significantly higher across all three sections (S–P: p = 0.044; S–T: p = 0.025) than those at the other levels.
Conclusions: The study found that nurses across all levels of healthcare had only moderate knowledge regarding identification and management of stroke-related OPD. Interdisciplinary collaboration between nurses and speech–language therapists may improve nurses’ knowledge in identification and management of stroke-related OPD in lower middle-income settings such as South Africa.
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Crossref Citations
1. Complications of oropharyngeal dysphagia in older individuals and patients with neurological disorders: insights from Mataró hospital, Catalonia, Spain
Tennekoon B. Karunaratne, Pere Clavé, Omar Ortega
Frontiers in Neurology vol: 15 year: 2024
doi: 10.3389/fneur.2024.1355199