Knowledge of Dysphagia in Stroke among Nurses Working in Tertiary Care Hospital

Background Swallowing difficulty occurs in up to 37 to 78% of people experiencing a non-fatal stroke. About one half of dysphagic patients either die or recover spontaneously within the first 14 days of stroke onset leaving half with swallowing deficits that can significantly impair function, recovery and quality of life. It is important for the nurses to efficiently screen dysphagia post-stroke to reduce the odds of negative outcomes. Objective To assess the level of knowledge of Dysphagia among nurses working in Tertiary care hospital and to assess the associations of knowledge with educational level, years of experience and experience in caring for stroke patient with dysphagia. Method Self-Administered Questionnaire developed by Andrea Pickle Voight (2015) was used to collect data among nurses working in Dhulikhel hospital. Descriptive statistics was used to assess the knowledge on dysphagia and chi-square was used to assess the association between the variables. Result We found that nurses have moderate knowledge in dysphagia (62.39%). Knowledge level was significantly associated with experience in caring for stoke patient (p = 0.033) but not associated with educational level (p= 0.366) and years of experience (p= 0.065). Conclusion Nurses at Dhulikhel Hospital have moderate knowledge of dysphagia in stroke. Level of knowledge was significantly associated with caring for stroke patient but not with years of experience and educational level.