Nutrition, Hydration, and Dysphagia: Strategies for Care Transitions

Presented by Pamela Masters-Farrell and Cindy Nehe

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Video Runtime: 21 Minutes; Learning Assessment Runtime: 36 Minutes

Dysphagia can have a significant impact on a person’s recovery and ability to transition home. Training and education are essential for a successful transition. Nurses have an important role in preparing the patient and caregiver on how to handle these issues. This course gives participants an overview of dysphagia topics that commonly occur and what topics need to be addressed prior to discharge. This course is applicable for nurses in the acute care, post-acute care, long-term care, and home health care settings.

Meet your instructors

Pamela Masters-Farrell

Pam Farrell has worked, educated, and participated in research in nursing, particularly rehabilitation nursing, since 1975. She has been responsible for management and staff development for rehabilitation facilities from 1985 to the present and is currently designing and publishing multimedia computer-based training programs…

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Cindy Nehe

Cindy Nehe has been a Speech Therapist since 2002. She has worked in a variety of settings including education, skilled nursing, outpatient, home health, acute inpatient rehabilitation, and acute care. Cindy is currently in management for an acute care hospital that specializes in cardiac and trauma care. Evaluating and…

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Chapters & learning objectives

Hydration Strategies

1. Hydration Strategies

Nurses need to recognize the importance of hydration during recovery and rehabilitation care. Hydration is a cost effective intervention that enables patients to optimize recovery, fully participate in therapy, and learn new skills.

Self-Feeding

2. Self-Feeding

This chapter continues the review of the impact of inadequate nutrition and hydration on the rehabilitation process and why rehabilitation nurses should recognize and actively promote independence in self-feeding.

National Dysphagia Diets and International Dysphagia Diet Standardization Initiative

3. National Dysphagia Diets and International Dysphagia Diet Standardization Initiative

This chapter identifies the National Dysphagia Diets and the International Diets. Interventions for persons with dysphagia often include restrictions in types of food and consistency of liquids. It is important for nurses to know these diet protocols so that they can identify recommended foods and foods to avoid for individual patients.

Mixing Correct Consistency

4. Mixing Correct Consistency

In this chapter, participants will review how to accurately mix correct liquid consistencies. Learning how to accurately mix and evaluate consistencies is extremely important for the patient’s respiratory status and overall safety to decrease risk of aspiration.

Transition Care to Family/Patient

5. Transition Care to Family/Patient

Nurses are the team members who spend the most time with the patient and are instrumental in transitioning care to caregivers and patients prior to discharge. In this chapter, participants will review how to effectively transition care so that the patient has a successful discharge without risk for readmission.