Educating Future Nurse Practitioners and Physician Associates on Pretreatment of Swallowing in Head and Neck Cancer

Head and neck cancer treatment frequently results in long-term severe swallowing deficits, often requiring feeding tube dependency. Patients who have completed swallowing exercise programs before and during cancer treatment experienced more positive swallowing outcomes, but most patients are not referred for swallowing intervention early enough in their care to prevent long-term deficits. This student research project aimed to measure health profession students’ knowledge of swallowing pretreatment for head and neck cancer patients and to investigate the impact of an educational module developed and presented by a Communication Sciences and Disorders graduate student to improve knowledge and awareness of this clinical issue. This study utilized a quasi-experimental pretest/posttest design involving two participant groups: 49 physician associate students and nine nurse practitioner students. The graduate student presented educational modules to each student group, focusing on swallowing pretreatment for patients with head and neck cancer. Data analyses revealed significant increases in both groups’ posttest scores compared to their pretest scores. The results indicate that the educational module increased interprofessional knowledge regarding swallowing pretreatment for patients with head and neck cancer. Future studies should investigate the impact of the educational module on clinical practice.