The Level of Knowledge about Dysphagia Among Neurological and Internal Medicine Nurses

Abstract

Introduction. Dysphagia is defined as swallowing disorders which causes malnourished, aspiration pneumonia andincreased number of deaths. The best method to diagnose dysphagia are screening tests. Due to the tests it is possibleto introduce an accurate therapy and make a team of therapists to participate in. According to the information theknowledge about this kind of dysfunction is important among nurses.Aim. The main goal of my diploma project was to measure the level of knowledge about dysphagia among thenurses from neurological and internal wards.Material and Methods. The scientific method, which has been used to make the research was diagnosis soundingincluding the surveys. Research tool which has been used while the research was especially made and dedicated formy project own questionnaire of surveys.Results. In the research have taken a part 70 nurses in the age over 22 year-old, who are active in their jobs andwork at neurological and internal wards in the hospitals of Gdańsk. The research has proved higher knowledge levelof the nurses working at neurological wards. All the surveyed people showed the knowledge about the definitionof dysphagia as well as about the food which every sick person should consume and avoid.Conclusions. Own research has shown that the garden of respondents does not affect the level of knowledge aboutdysphagia. The age of the respondents shows no relation to the level of nurses’ knowledge about dysphagia. In turn,seniority affect the knowledge of nurses in this area. The greater the seniority, the higher the level of knowledge ofthe topic in the field of dysphagia. Similarly the workplace. Neurological nurses were characterized by a higher levelof knowledge about dysphagia than nurses from internal medicine departments, while the level of knowledge aboutdysphagia does not depend on the education of the nurses surveyed. (JNNN 2021;10(1):10–17)