Nursing Bedside Dysphagia Screen: Is it Valid?

Screening for dysphagia on stroke patient admissions in a timely manner, with early risk identification, and implementation of appropriate oral intake measures is a priority to reduce negative patient outcomes. Containing patient and facility costs, along with reducing length of stay, is a priority for all healthcare institutions. To ensure the provision of care at our facility was consistent with these priorities, we reviewed our processes and looked for opportunities for improvement. Assuring we had a reliable and valid nursing bedside screening tool for dysphagia was identified as a priority. We designed a study to answer the questions of validity and reliability. The findings suggest that our facility-developed Nursing Bedside Dysphagia Screen is a valid and reliable tool to help identify patients with stroke who are at risk for aspiration pneumonia.