Abstract: Objective: To explore the effect of nurse-led grading management of dysphagia on stroke patients in neurology department. Methods: Stroke patients recruited were divided into the control group and the observation group. Aside from routine nursing as offered to the control group, the grade management of dysphagia led by nurses was carried out in the observation group. And finally a multi-disciplinary team was introduced to provide grading nursing intervention to patients in accordance with their conditions. Results: The total effective rate of swallowing function recovery in the observation group (87.96%) was higher than that of the control group (73.76%) (P<0.05). Compared with the control group (12.18±2.13 days/32.30%), the average time and rate of indwelling gastric tube in the observation group were lower (9.86±1.48 days/22.80%) (P<0.05). The satisfaction degree of the observation group (97.6%) was higher than that of the control group (93.1%) (P<0.05). Conclusion: The grading management of swallowing disorders over stroke patients led by nurses in neurology department can help identify high-risk patients in an early stage, thus timely and effective intervention will be offered to avoid unnecessary indwelling of gastric tube and improve the swallowing function as well as satisfaction of patients.

Key words: nurse-led; dysphagia; neurology; stroke