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Patient safety

How to set up aspiration precautions

Other platforms explain it with text and video. In Making Synapses you practice it on the patient.

Nursing (NCLEX)
Practice it in VR with Blocky

Aspiration happens when food, fluid or saliva goes into the lungs and can cause pneumonia. Patients after stroke or with low alertness are at high risk.

Step by step

  1. Screen swallowing

    Do a bedside swallow screen before any food, drink or oral medicine in at-risk patients. [1]

  2. Raise the head of bed

    Keep the head up at least 30 degrees, and upright at 90 degrees for meals. [1]

  3. Follow the diet order

    Use the texture and liquid thickness ordered by the speech therapist. [1]

  4. Supervise meals

    Small bites, slow pace and a chin tuck if advised. Stay upright 30 minutes after eating. [1]

  5. Watch for signs

    Coughing, wet voice, drooling or food left in the mouth suggest aspiration. [1]

  6. Give oral care

    Clean the mouth regularly to lower bacteria and pneumonia risk. [2]

  7. Keep suction ready

    Have working suction at the bedside. [1]

Common errors

Practice it in Making Synapses

In Making Synapses you do this on the patient, not on paper: every step goes on the checklist with a score, and in Teach mode Blocky tells you what comes next.

Making Synapses cases that train this skill

8 Making Synapses cases train this skill: open the case library

Sources

  1. Open RN, Nursing Skills 2e (Chippewa Valley Technical College) (CC BY 4.0)
  2. Open RN, Nursing Fundamentals 2e (CC BY 4.0)
  3. The Joint Commission, National Patient Safety Goals

Facts and steps follow The Joint Commission, National Patient Safety Goals. Making Synapses is not affiliated with these organizations. Updated: 2026-10-11.