Course Detail: Demystifying Swallowing Disorders in Inpatient Adults: Practical Knowledge and Tools for Acute Care Nurses


Format
Virtual

Overview
Swallowing is a highly complex function that, when impaired (dysphagia), can profoundly impact nutrition, hydration, medication administration, pulmonary health, and quality of life.  Dysphagia is a symptom of an underlying issue, and adults who are admitted to acute care facilities may exhibit new onset dysphagia or an exacerbation of an underlying dysphagia due to a variety of factors.  This impairment puts the patient at high risk for a host of medical complications, including but not limited to hospital-acquired aspiration pneumonia.  Acute care nurses require specialized knowledge and skills to provide high quality, evidence-based care to acutely ill patients with dysphagia.  This active learning course, created collaboratively by acute care nurses and speech-language pathologists, will offer participants an opportunity to build their knowledge base and critical thinking skills to confidently provide optimal care and advocacy for acute care patients with swallowing disorders. 

Learning Outcomes
  1. Describe general physiology of human swallowing and diagnostic process.
  2. Recognize common underlying causes and risk factors of dysphagia in adult acute care patients.
  3. Differentiate between aspiration precautions and prescribed swallowing techniques and strategies.
  4. Distinguish between the International Dysphagia Diet Standardization Initiative consistency levels.
  5. Illustrate opportunities for patient advocacy and collaboration with Speech-Language Pathology.
Who Should Attend
  • Nurses practicing in the acute care hospital setting across adult inpatient populations 
Meet the Faculty
Rebecca S. Inzana, MS, CCC-SLP
Rebecca is an acute care Medical Speech-Language Pathologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and an Assistant Professor at MGH Institute of Health Professions (IHP). Rebecca is a champion of Interprofessional Education and Practice, teaching two courses in the IHP's IMPACT? curriculum and acting as a Clinical Faculty Coordinator for the Interprofessional Dedicated Education Units at Massachusetts General Hospital.  

Rebecca's clinical interests span diagnostics and decision-making across speech, language, and swallowing disorders in the acute care setting. Her scholarly interests center around interprofessional education and practice in healthcare, including andragogy, sociology of health professions education, and innovative learning environments.

Katharine (Katie) Tahmaseb, MS, CCC-SLP
Katie is a Speech Language Pathologist at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). After receiving her bachelor's degree in Neuroscience from Colby College and her master's degree from the MGH Institute of Health Professions, Katie joined the team at MGH in 2011. Her work involves the evaluation and treatment of swallowing, cognition, speech, and language in the adult population across all inpatient units of the hospital. She has been recognized as an Advanced Clinician through the MGH Clinical Recognition Program. In addition to clinical work, Katie has a special interest in the education and training of graduate students, frequently supervising graduate student clinicians, serving as an instructor for the Interprofessional Clinical Experience at MGH, and most recently teaching the Foundations of Medical Speech Pathology course at the MGH IHP.

Trish Zeytoonjian, DNP, RN
Trish is the Nurse Director of an inpatient Orthopedic & Urology unit at Mass General Hospital.  She has worked at Mass General Hospital for nearly twenty years, working first as a Patient Care Associate, a Clinical Nurse, and a Nursing Practice Specialist before transitioning to her current Nurse Director role.  Trish started her career in the Department of Orthopedics at MGH because of her love for the surgical patient, the acute care environment that places great emphasis on team-based, patient centered care. Trish has been the recipient of the Partners in Excellence award at Mass General Hospital in the category of teamwork in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2018, 2019 and 2021.  Trish also holds a joint appointment at the MGH Institute of Health Professions, School of Nursing, since 2011 in the role of Clinical Faculty Coordinator for the Interprofessional Clinical Experience; where she has helped to develop and execute a sustainable interprofessional experience for students across all disciplines in the acute care setting on the Interprofessional Dedicated Education Units (IPDEU) at Mass General. Her work at both MGH and the IHP have heightened her dedication the patient experience through improving the team-based approach to care.  It was through this program, alongside her colleagues from the IPDEU steering committee, she was awarded a Partners in Excellence Award 2017 in the category of Excellence in Advancing Interprofessional Education. Trish is also the recipient of the Judith A. Fong Nursing Faculty Prize in 2010.  Her areas of interests include interprofessional education and practice and improving patient satisfaction through improved patient outcomes.

Accreditation

In support of improving patient care, MGH Institute of Health Professions is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

Nursing
MGH Institute of Health Professions designates this activity for 2.0 contact hours for nurses.
The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board (AANPCB) accepts credit from organizations accredited by the ACCME and ANCC.

Disclosures
There are no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies for faculty and planners to disclose. There is no commercial or sponsorship support for this activity.

Registration Fees
Education Collaborative
If you are a Mass General Brigham (MGB) employee, IHP clinical preceptor, or IHP alum, you may be eligible for additional discounts under the Education Collaborative. Learn more herePlease note: Education Collaborative discounts cannot be combined with standard discounts such as the group rate.

How to Register
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Payment Methods
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    • Make payable to: MGH Institute of Health Professions
    • Mail to: 36 1st Avenue, Boston, MA 02129-4557
    • If needed, request a W9 from CPD@mghihp.edu.

Contact Us
For any questions or concerns regarding this offering or the registration process, contact us at:

Office of Continuing and Professional Development
Email: CPD@mghihp.edu
Phone: 617-724-6674

Available Sessions

This course contains no sessions