Exploring final-year nursing students' experiences in dysphagia management at an Eastern Cape University.
Amanda Shusha, Siya C Zingaye, Esona Phundulu and 3 others
PMID 41405063WHAT IT FOUND
Twelve final-year nursing students said they felt unprepared to manage swallowing difficulties.
They described brief lectures, uneven ward exposure, and uncertainty about feeding, choking, and when to refer to speech-language pathologists.
Key findings
01All 12 final-year nursing students reported a lack of confidence in managing patients with dysphagia.
02Participants described difficulty recognising early signs of dysphagia and uncertainty about what to do when a patient coughed or choked during feeding.
03Participants acknowledged the importance of speech-language pathologists but were often uncertain about when and how to refer patients to them.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Findings come from 12 final-year nursing students at the University of Fort Hare, so they may not apply to other settings. The study reports self-reported experiences and confidence. It did not observe clinical practice, test knowledge, or measure patient outcomes. Participants were included only if they had encountered dysphagia during clinical practice, so students with little or no exposure were not represented. Interviews were conducted in English at the East London campus, so the findings may not apply to other campuses or languages.
Declared interests
The authors declared that no funds, grants or other support were received during preparation of this manuscript.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that nursing students are unsafe clinicians or that training will improve patient outcomes. The study reports self-reported experiences of 12 students at the University of Fort Hare and did not test an intervention or measure patient safety.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →