Abstract:

Purpose: Speech and language therapist (SLP) and intensive care nurse (ICN) should work together in order to perform eating and swallowing therapy in the intensive care unit (ICU). In order to guide the patient and his/her relatives effectively about eating and swallowing disorders, it is necessary to know the practices of these occupational groups regarding each other's eating and swallowing interventions. This study, aims to examine the eating and swallowing assessments practiced by nurses working in the ICU to patients and their awareness of SLP and SLP's professional intervention. Method: 43 ICNs (35F, 8M) from 18 different cities participated in the research. In order to evaluate the service provided by the participants for eating and swallowing disorders in the ICU, the “Intensive Care Nurses' Questionnaire for Evaluation of Swallowing Evaluations” was prepared. This questionnaire was prepared by the researchers at the end of a thorough literature review. The prepared questionnaire consists of 29 questions and 3 separate sections. The first section includes demographic information (gender, education, duration of professional experience, etc.), the second section includes procedures for swallowing disorders (questions about the consistency decision presented to the patient, etc.), and the third section includes awareness questions for the SLP profession (professional role of SLP, etc.). Results: While 55.8% of the participants had a procedure for the evaluation of eating and swallowing, 44.2% did not. In the evaluation of swallowing of ICNs who had the procedure, 23.8% stated that they used the “Nutrition Form” and 9.5% stated that they used the “Total Parenteral Nutrition”. However, it was observed that none of the participants specified a procedure for SLP evaluation. During the swallowing assessment process, 19% of the participants tried variable food regimens, and only 9.5% additionally accepted only aspiration as a swallowing criterion. 62.8% (n=27) of the participants did not know SLP’s profession, 72.1% (n= 31) of the participants do not know the SLP’s eating and swallowing processes and 69.8% (n=30) of the participants did not know SLP’s therapeutic role of swallowing. Only 7% of the participants need SLP in swallowing assessment. Conclusion: It has been observed that the professional awareness of ICNs about SLP is low and their knowledge about eating and swallowing intervention should be supported. It is thought that this situation may cause problems in determining the eating and swallowing needs of patients and their relatives treated in ICU. It is also expected that this lack of awareness may lead to disruptions in the treatment process of patients treated in ICU.

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