Facial Nerve Paralysis: Just the Basics  

Intended Audience: M Health Fairview Speech language pathologists
Level: Introductory
Intended audience: SLP
Continuing Education contact hours: 2 hours

SLP: You will receive a certificate of course completion with total CE contact hours. AHSA approval has expired at this time. You may still submit the hours towards your licensure and receive a certificate of completion with all information provided to submit. 

Course Description: Facial nerve damage or paralysis is a devastating condition and can interfere with eating, speaking, facial movement, and the ability to express emotion. Many people avoid going out in public, causing individuals to isolate, and feel like they are suffering alone. Individuals and providers often feel frustrated looking for help and find knowledge and management of these conditions to be limited. This course will review facial nerve anatomy and causes of facial nerve paralysis. The sequalae of recovery will be reviewed as well as surgical and non-surgical treatment options. Functional problems during each stage of recovery will be highlighted as well as the role of speech language pathologists across inpatient, subacute, and outpatient settings. The overall goal of this course is to advance SLP's understanding of facial nerve impairment to provide accurate and up to date information to both patients and providers.

SPEAKER:
Danielle Schneeman is a Speech Language Pathologist with 15 years of clinical experience who has worked across multiple settings, with adults and children, evaluating and treating speech, language, cognitive, and swallowing deficits. She has been working with patients who have facial paralysis since 2020. A strong believer in collaboration, engagement, and participation, Danielle strives to create a positive learning environment to meet patient centered goals and maximize functional outcomes.

 

Financial disclosure: Danielle has no financial disclosures to disclose.
Non-Financial: Danielle has no non-financial disclosures to disclose.

Objectives:
• Summarize facial nerve paralysis vs. facial weakness from an anatomical standpoint.
• Describe the basic causes of facial nerve paralysis and sequelae of recovery.
• Describe functional problems during the flaccid, paresis, and synkinesis phases of recovery.
• Describe the treatment of facial nerve paralysis.
• List the role of the inpatient/subacute/outpatient SLP.
• Describe when to refer to facial nerve paralysis clinic and where to obtain basic resources for patients with facial nerve paralysis.

Agenda:
Introduction & causes of facial paralysis (20 minutes)
Anatomy & sequalae of nerve recovery (20 minutes)
Functional problems in the flaccid phase, paresis phase, and synkinesis phase-- eye closure, dysarthria, oral phase dysphagia, non-verbal communication (30 min)
Intervention (30 minutes)
SLP role across settings & resources (20 minutes)

 You need to watch part 1 and part 2 of the videos to complete this course

PLEASE WATCH PART 2 VIDEO BEFORE COMPLETING YOUR EVALUATION FORM. Evaluation form link provided on part 2.

Facial Nerve Paralysis part 1- of 2 Video-20221220_065904.mp4( Part 1)

 Facial Nerve Paralysis part 2 Video-20221229_082553.mp4 ( Part 2)