Knowledge Of Oral Care Research Articles

Oral care of intubated patients, challenging task of ICU nurses: a survey of knowledge, attitudes and practices

IntroductionPatients' health outcomes can be positively affected by the oral care provided by intensive care unit (ICU) nurses. Providing effective oral care for intubated patients is a challenging task. The purpose of this study was to examine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices(KAP) of oral care among ICU nurses for intubated patients, as well as the underlying factors that influence these behaviors.MethodThis cross-sectional survey was conducted on 200 nurses from adult ICUs in referral hospitals located in the central eighth area of healthcare management in Iran. The timeframe for data collection was April to June in 2023. Data were collected by questionnaires which consisted of four sections: demographic information, knowledge, attitudes and practices of oral care for intubated patients. The Pearson Correlation Coefficient was employed to determine the correlation between KAP and its main variables, which were distributed normally.ResultsThe result showed that nurses were 32.19 ± 6.23 years old, with an average total work experience of 8.91 ± 5.54 years and an average ICU work experience of 5.89 ± 4.31 years. The mean KAP score were17.66 ± 3.04, 15.46 ± 4.23, and 7.57 ± 2.21, respectively. The knowledge of nurses was significantly impacted by their level of education (p = 0.04), and an increase in work experience each year was associated with improved attitudes among nurses (p = 0.04). A significant association was found between the nurses' oral care practice, knowledge (p = 0.03), and attitude (p = 0.04).ConclusionThis study revealed that ICU nurses possess a moderate level of knowledge, a higher-than-average level of practice, and they have a favorable attitude towards giving oral care to intubated patients. Therefore, providing continuous education about oral care is essential for ICU nurses.

Integrated oral care for patients with spinal cord injuries: perceptions of non-dental professionals

Purpose To understand the oral health attitudes, knowledge, and practices among non-dental professionals caring for patients with spinal cord injuries, as well as the barriers and facilitators to oral care across acute and rehabilitation hospital settings. Materials and Methods This study was a descriptive qualitative study. Nine focus groups with spinal cord injury clinicians from two Sydney hospitals were conducted (n = 35). A thematic analysis was undertaken. Results Four themes were constructed: understanding the impact of spinal cord injuries on oral health and wellbeing; limited support in the spinal cord injury unit to promote oral care; strategies that enable oral care promotion; and recommendations to expand scope in oral care and education. Although most clinicians considered oral health to be important there was a lack of guidelines to support standardised oral care practices. Barriers included lack of time, limited oral care resources, low priority and difficulty in accessing treatment. Staff were receptive to an integrated, multidisciplinary approach to oral care. Conclusion This Australian first study provides insight into spinal cord injury clinicians’ knowledge and practices of oral care. The findings will help guide future research in developing appropriate models of care to promote oral health among patients with spinal cord injuries.

Attitude, Practice, and Awareness of Oral Hygiene Care among Nursing Professionals of a Tertiary Care Center of Malda in West Bengal: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practice of oral hygiene care among nursing professionals of a tertiary care center of Malda in West Bengal. Background: Oral cavity is the reflector of our general health. The relationship between oral health and systemic health is well established, but a lack of awareness and knowledge regarding dental hygiene restrains people from proper oral care. Most of the people including health workers do only brushing as their daily oral care process, ignoring the other important aspects of oral hygiene including regular tongue cleaning, use of interdental cleaning aids, change of toothbrush in a periodic manner, and regular dental checkups. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire-based descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out. After evaluating for the content validity and reliability, a self-structured questionnaire comprising ten questions about their oral hygiene was distributed among nursing professionals of Malda Medical College in a printed format after obtaining informed consent. Total 261 responses were gathered. Informed consent was obtained from each participant, and data were collected anonymously to maintain participants’ confidentiality. The collected data were analyzed using the statistical software IBM SPSS for Windows, version 27.0. Results: Most of the participants use two times brushing as their regular dental care (77.4%) and use toothbrush and paste for the same (99.2%). Soft toothbrush is the most preferable choice (70.9%). Apart from brushing, other oral care methods are neglected, only 23.8% of participants use interdental cleaning aids, 79.3% use tongue cleaning, and only 8.8% have done regular dental checkups. Conclusion: The result of the present study depicts the limitation of knowledge and practice of oral hygiene care among nursing professionals of Malda Medical College. In spite of their health-care background, they have limited knowledge regarding regular oral hygiene care. Though most of them use two times brushing, but unaware about the importance of interdental cleaning and tongue cleaning habits.

Effectiveness of oral health education in enhancing oral care knowledge,attitudesand behaviors for family caregivers of persons with dementia

AbstractBackgroundDue to the loss of cognitive function and memory, persons with dementia gradually lose their self‐care and social skills, and the weakening of their oral care ability can easily lead to periodontal disease, dry mouth, and root caries. Studies have shown that oral health maintenance can help prevent dementia and delay functional deterioration. Therefore, it is important to provide oral hygiene guidance to family caregivers to improve the quality of oral health care for persons with dementia.Oral care questionnaires and oral health assessment scales were used to assess the knowledge, attitude and behavior of family caregivers towards oral care for the person with dementia. Based on the assessment results, an oral health education program was designed, including: 1. immediate oral care health education at the outpatient clinic; 2. mailing of dementia oral care health education leaflets; and 3. individual health education and discussion by telephone one week after mailing. A post‐test was conducted one week after the intervention to evaluate the effectiveness of the program.ResultsFamily caregivers' oral care knowledge correctness increased from 49% to 88.9%, attitude correctness increased from 29% to 71.45%, and behavior correctness increased from 84% to 100%.ConclusionThe results showed that a multicomponent oral health education program could improve the oral care knowledge, attitude, and behavior for family caregivers of persons with dementia. In particular, the use of telephone health education and assessment during the COVID‐19 epidemic may provide a reference.

Evaluating Parental Knowledge and Awareness of Oral Care for Preschool Children in Kuantan, Pahang

Background: Good oral health is an essential component of general health. Children's dental health, in general, is greatly influenced by their oral health. Parents significantly influence their children's lives and motivate them to maintain good dental health. This study aims to determine the parents' knowledge and awareness of preschoolers’ oral care in Kuantan, Pahang. Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional survey design was used to evaluate parents' knowledge and awareness of preschool oral care in Kuantan, Pahang. A total of 134 parents who have children aged between 4 and 6 years old at the registered kindergarten with the Department of Social Welfare that fulfil the inclusion criteria were recruited using the convenience sampling method. Descriptive and correlation statistical analysis were employed in this study. The data was analysed using IBM SPSS Statistic version 28.0 Results: This study reported that most participants were parents of more than 32 years, completed tertiary education level, and had monthly income between RM4,000 – RM10,000, with 53.7%, 70.1%, and 38.8%, respectively. Regarding knowledge level, more than half of parents had high knowledge (73.1%) of children’s oral care, and all parents had positive awareness (100%). There is no significant correlation between the level of knowledge and awareness with r=0.138 and p-0.112. Conclusion: Educational status may be associated with the knowledge level of children’s oral care. However, education may not influence parents’ awareness of pre-schooler’s children’s oral care. Thus, more awareness programmes on children’s oral care should be implemented in the community.

Oral and Dental Nursing Care Knowledge and Practice Among Nurses Working at Primary Dental Clinic, at Rohtak District, Harayana

Oral and Dental Nursing Care Knowledge and Practice Among Nurses Working at Primary Dental Clinic, at Rohtak District, Harayana

Should oral care be about more than a gut feeling? A qualitative study investigating patients' and healthcare professionals' experiences.

To explore patients' and healthcare professionals' (HCPs) experiences of oral care during hospitalisation to identify needs and challenges. Daily oral care is important to patients' health and well-being, to prevent diseases in the oral cavity, systemic infections and increased morbidity, which subsequently can lead to prolonged hospitalisation and, at worst, increased mortality. Despite this knowledge, oral care is a neglected part of nursing practice. Studies do not clearly identify barriers regarding oral care, as the existing knowledge is inadequate. A qualitative study exploring participants' experiences to gain new in-depth knowledge of oral care among hospitalised patients. A phenomenological-hermeneutic approach was applied. Participant observations were conducted on five hospital wards, combined with individual semi-structured interviews with 16 patients and 15 HCP. Data analysis was based on Ricoeur's theory of narrative and interpretation. Four themes describing the challenges regarding oral care emerged: Oral care as a gut feeling; oral care fades into the background; even self-reliant patients need help with oral care; and the mouth reflects the life lived. The identified challenges show there is a need for improvement in the health professional approach to oral care in nursing practice. Focus on increasing HCPs' knowledge, skills and competences can increase their nursing agency and support patients' self-care capacity. Investigation of oral care during hospitalisation revealed four main challenges concerning both patients' and HCPs' lack of knowledge and awareness of oral care. Thus, patients and HCPs should be included in developing solutions to improve oral care in nursing practice. The COREQ criteria for reporting qualitative research were adhered to. A patient representative was involved in the discussion of the proposal, conduct and results of the study.

Implementation of a nursing oral health care protocol in a university teaching hospital: A cluster-randomized stepped-wedge design.

Providing oral care is an essential part of basic nursing care but receives little priority in daily practice, with a risk of adverse events. Also, nurses report many barriers to adequate provision of oral care, such as time restraints, insufficient materials, fear of causing pain, lack of knowledge and a negative attitude towards providing oral care. We performed a cluster-randomized, stepped-wedge study to explore the effect of the the implementation of a new nursing evidence-based oral care protocol on nurses' knowledge, attitude and protocol adherence. The study population included both nursing students, graduated nurses and patients in selected wards. The implementation strategy included oral and written information, instruction videos and reminders. Nurses' knowledge and attitude towards oral care were assessed at baseline and after the implementation of the protocol with a validated 47-item questionnaire with a score range of 0-100. Secondarily, nurses' protocol adherence to teeth brushing, measured in Activities of Daily Living (ADL) dependent patients, was evaluated. The Standards for Reporting Implementation Studies (StaRI) Statement was used. At baseline, the questionnaire was completed by 226 nurses; after implementation by 283. Knowledge had significantly improved from 68.8 to 72.3. Nurses' attitude improved not significantly. Protocol adherence was assessed in 73 ADL-dependent patients at baseline, in 51 after implementation. Adherence to teeth brushing significantly decreased in patients with permanent teeth. Also, adherence to both teeth brushing and usage of soap decreased in patients with (partial) dentures. Nurses' knowledge and attitude of oral care increased somewhat after the implementation of a new nursing evidence-based protocol. After implementation, there was an unexplained decreased adherence to oral care in ADL-dependent patients.

Development and feasibility of an oral health e-learning program for long-term Japanese overseas workers: a pilot randomized controlled trial

BackgroundThis study aimed to assess the feasibility and acceptability of an oral health self-care e-learning intervention for overseas workers as well as the research procedures for a future controlled trial.MethodsWe randomly allocated participants to either the intervention (n = 48) or control (n = 51) group. The intervention group received a standardized leaflet plus a theory-based oral health e-learning program. The control group received only the standardized leaflet. We assessed health behaviour related to fluoride toothpaste use, oral care knowledge, motivation, oral care self-efficacy, and oral health related quality of life (QoL). Chi-square and t test analyses were performed to make comparisons between the two groups. To evaluate the research process, participants in the intervention group were asked open-ended questions to assess the acceptability and feasibility of the research procedures in practice.ResultsA total of 82 participants (Intervention = 36, Control = 46) were included in the analysis. The dropout rate was 17.2%. The modal time taken to complete the e-learning intervention was more than 30 min (33.3%). Of the 36 respondents in the intervention group, 27 (70.4%) said that the e-learning intervention had changed their behaviour. At the three months follow-up, oral care knowledge alone was improved in the e-learning group.ConclusionThis pilot study provides evidence that the theory-based self-care for oral health e-learning intervention is feasible in overseas workers. Next, this feasible and acceptable pilot study should be used with an appropriate sample size in a randomized controlled trial.Trial registrationThe trial protocol was registered with UMIN-CTR (ID: UMIN000045883) on 27/10/2021.

Oral care knowledge, attitude and practice among nursing staff in acute hospital settings in Hong Kong.

Investigating the oral care delivered by nursing staff in acute hospital setting is having a remarkable shortage within the current literature. This was provoked due to lack of previous performed investigation in the acute hospital setting besides inconsistent existence of a standardized and comprehensive oral care knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) instrumentation. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to assess the oral care KAP level for inpatients among nursing staff; to identify possible barriers to the provision of oral care; and to identify training preferences to improve the oral care of inpatients, in acute hospital settings in Hong Kong; and to provide standardized comprehensive KAP based assessment tool that would benefit and guide other future studies. In this study, a cross-sectional survey was conducted after a 55-item self-administered structured questionnaire was developed. A modified KAP tool was developed. The tool includes 4 domains: oral care knowledge, attitude, practice, and experience. Nursing staff was recruited from July 2018 to April 2019 via convenience sampling. Either online or printed questionnaires were completed. Proportions of nursing staff with good KAP, as defined by having 60% of the total score in the respective domain, were estimated with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Analysis of covariance was used to compare the mean scores of KAP among different independent variables and identify the factors associated with good KAP. 404 nursing staff were recruited. Approximately 29.5%, 33.7% and 14.9% of the respondents had good oral care knowledge, attitude and practice, respectively, and 53.2% of the respondents had unpleasant oral care experience. Better oral care practice was associated with higher levels of oral care knowledge (β = 0.1) and oral care attitude (β = 0.3). To conclude: nursing staff in acute hospital settings reported low levels of oral care KAP with variations between the RN, EN and HCA. This study adds to the literature the association between oral care unpleasant experiences and the oral care practice, as well as oral care knowledge and attitude which also in turns associated with practice. The developed standardised tool could be applied for future studies. Recommendations on the future research, training and practices were made.

The effectiveness of on-line monitoring of oral cavity changes in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Objective — to assess the effectiveness of using an on‑line format for dental monitoring of patients with non‑alcoholic fatty liver disease
 Materials and methods. A two‑time dental questionnaire survey was conducted on 41 patients with a combined course of chronic generalized periodontitis (CP) and non‑alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and their physically healthy spouses. All patients selected for the study underwent treatment of periodontal tissues, individual training in hygienic care of the oral cavity with the selection of tooth brushing techniques, hygiene objects and products. Control survey to assess knowledge and skills of oral care was conducted after 12 months with the use of on‑line questionnaires.
 Results. It has been proven that most married couples were sufficiently motivated to implement the provided recommendations. Thus, if at the beginning of the study there were almost 71% of married couples where both spouses preferred the use of easily digestible carbohydrates, then after the individual classes, their number decreased almost in 5 times. Similarly, the frequency of positive answers to questions about the consumption of sweet fizzy drinks decreased. A significant number of family couples denied smoking at the endpoint of the study, and the number of positive responses to questions related to full‑fledged oral hygiene (brushing teeth twice, using additional items for individual oral hygiene) increased in more than 1.5 times compared to the initial visit. For most patients, non‑observance of a healthy diet, tobacco smoking, failure to perform full‑fledged oral hygiene was established to be a habitual lifestyle, affecting the course of both CP and NAFLD as a result of entering of the genetic material of pathogenic microorganisms, endotoxins, pro‑inflammatory cytokines etc., in the systemic circulation.
 Conclusions. The use of questionnaires in the on‑line format makes it possible to find out the usual way of life and conduct a comparative analysis of the presence or absence of negative habits’ correction in the process of therapy of comorbid pathology, which is very relevant in the conditions of martial law. Questionnaire surveys of both spouses proved to be important, it promotes the motivation to correct negative habits and increase the effectiveness of treatment and preventive measures.

Can Nurses' Training and Documentation Audit Improve the Oral Care Practice among Patients Receiving Cancer Treatment? Results from the Pretest-Post-Pest Study.

Oral complications arising out of radiation therapy and chemotherapy significantly affect the oral health status of patients leading to severe distress. Poor oral health can impair nutritional intake and patient recovery. Trained nurses lack knowledge of oral care of patients receiving cancer treatment. The study is aimed at training the nurses and conducting a documentation audit to assess the effect of the training on their clinical practice. Methods: A quantitative research approach was adopted using one group pretest-post-test design to train 72 nurses on oral care of cancer patients working in radiation oncology wards of a tertiary care setting in the southern part of India. After the training program, 80 head and neck cancer patient records were audited to monitor the implementation of oral care. After completing the training program, the knowledge score increased to 13.54 with a mean difference of 4.15 at a p-value <0.001, which indicates that the training was effective, resulting in a gain in knowledge scores. Nurses reported usage of evidence-based intervention, and patient education materials helped them in the clinical practice and a few barriers to oral care practice were identified while implementing the oral care i.e increased frequency of oral care, increased documentation, and time issues. There was poor adherence to the implementation of oral care for cancer patients after the training program, as monitored by a documentation audit. Capacity building of the nurses in providing effective oral care of cancer patients will help in improving the standards of cancer nursing practice. An implementation audit of the records would help check adherence to the new oral care practice. A hospital-instituted protocol can result in the effective implementation of the practice change rather than a researcher-introduced protocol.

Parental knowledge about oral disease prevention in children under seven years old

Relevance. Oral health in children largely depends on parental involvement and the formation of adequate oral care skills. Parental awareness of oral disease prevention and adherence to the recommendation of pediatric dentists or dental hygienists are paramount for dental disease onset. Therefore, the assessment of parental knowledge about oral prevention is relevant.Aim. To evaluate the oral health education of parents of children under seven y.o. on oral disease prevention.Materials and methods. The study anonymously surveyed 250 parents of children under seven y.o., living in Barnaul. The survey in Google Forms included questions about parental awareness of dental diseases, the frequency of dental visits, parental knowledge of the child's home oral care and the child's diet. The study results were statistically processed using the MS Excel 2007 program.Results. The survey of Barnaul parents of children under seven demonstrated that 50% of the children were breastfed, and almost no one used dairy products as the main drink. Despite the knowledge about the importance of caries treatment in children, most parents (68%) visit a dentist when dental disease symptoms appear. The dentist is not always the principal source of information about dental diseases in children and their prevention. The parents selected oral hygiene products and items independently in most cases, without considering the child's individual dental status characteristics. Some parents believe that they may skip brushing their primary teeth brushing at all.Conclusion. The results evidence the need to increase parental knowledge about dental disease prevention in children.

Oral Care and Maintenance Habits Among Pharmacy Students

Objective. This study aimed to identify and evaluate oral care habits, awareness, and knowledge of oral dental health among a group of pharmacy students.Methods. An e-questionnaire on oral care habits, awareness, and knowledge was completed by students in a university pharmacy.Results. A total of 484 students with a mean (SD) age of 21.4 (1.6) years participated. Of all participants, 9.3% were not regularly brushing their teeth. The percentage of regular fluoridated toothpaste usage was 44.8%. Three in 5 (64.5%) participants had visited a dentist for a complaint. When answering questions on the possible effects of dental plaque accumulation on teeth, the causative factors for dental decay and signs of periodontal disease, the percentages of students who indicated they "did not know" were 16.3%, 4.8%, and 43.2%, respectively. Among participants, 38.7% were unaware of the cariogenic or erosive effects of pediatric syrups or suspensions. Of all the pharmacy students, 32% stated they have been consulted about some issue related to oral health.Conclusion. The oral care habits, awareness, and oral health knowledge of pharmacy students in one program needs to be improved. Improvement of these measures is a multi-layered issue, not limited only to the quality of life but also to increased awareness associated with public health-related issues related to dental care.

Oral hygiene practices in nurseries (0-3 years) in the cities of Pavia and Vigevano.

This study was conducted to evaluate attention to and knowledge of oral care in children aged 0-3 years, on the basis of data collected from early years educators working with this age group. Information was also collected about the oral hygiene practices adopted in nurseries and the types of food provided, with the aim of increasing knowledge and raising awareness of this topic. A questionnaire was created using the "Google Forms" program and sent to all the 47 nurseries in the city of Pavia and Vigevano. Twenty establishments agreed to take part in the research. Assessment of knowledge and of awareness of oral care among early years educators caring for children in the age range 0-3 years revealed variability and some confusion. The results showed a general lack of attention to oral care in the period before the milk teeth appear, as well as limited use of gauze swabs. There was generally some use of educational play focusing on this issue, albeit not daily across all the nurseries participating in the survey. Nurseries rarely had the support of a professional dental hygienist to raise awareness among early years educators and parents. The findings obtained through this study indicate that, in the area surveyed, there is a lack of widespread knowledge and awareness of oral prevention in young children, and of the oral hygiene maintenance techniques to use in this age group. This suggests a need to develop preventive protocols to improve knowledge and awareness of children's oral health among the adults who care for them.

The Effect of Promotion with Flipchart Media on Toothbrush Knowledge Levels of Maintaining Dental and Oral Health in Children

Elementary school children possess a high risk of dental caries. Based on the Basic Health Research 2018 data, the percentage of dental and oral health problems in the 10–14 year age group is 41.4%. Efforts to reduce dental and oral health problems in children are conducted by health promotion which can be implemented with flipchart media. Flipchart media can be an alternative; hence, elementary school children are able to better understand the importance of knowledge on maintaining oral health. The objective of this study is to determine the effect of promotion with flipcharts on the level of toothbrush knowledge of maintaining oral and dental health in children. This type of research was a quasi-experimental with a pretest-posttest design with control group. The research location is at SD Muhammadiyah Banyuraden, Gamping, Sleman, Yogyakarta. The research sample is 80 children aged 8 to 12 years. The sampling technique employed purposive sampling. The influence variable is promotion with flipchart, and the affected variable is the level of knowledge in maintaining oral health. The treatment and control groups performed pretest and posttest to determine the level of knowledge of dental and oral care in elementary school children. The results of the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test analysis demonstrated that before and after promotion, the two groups owned a significant difference in toothbrush knowledge level (p=0.00). The results of the Mann Whitney test analysis display that the mean rank of children's toothbrush knowledge level using flipchart media is greater than PowerPoint media, which is 58.03&gt; 20.98 so that it can be stated that the use of flipchart media is more effective than PowerPoint media. The conclusion of the study is that promotion by employing flipchart media can increase the level of toothbrush knowledge on maintaining oral and dental health in children.

Current status and future prospects for oral care education in Bachelor of Nursing curriculums: A Japanese cross-sectional study.

This study sought to investigate the current status and faculty members' perceptions of oral care education in Bachelor of Nursing curriculums in Japan. Data were gathered through a questionnaire survey of 196 participants, who were faculty members in charge of oral care education in the basic, adult, gerontological, and home nursing fields, from 295 nursing schools that offered Bachelor degrees in nursing across Japan. The quantitative data showed that 38.5% of the participants worked for less than 5 years as oral care educators, only 15.5% taught oral care in perioperative wards, only 62.2% used an oral care training simulator, and less than 30% believed that training in the prevention of oral diseases should be enhanced. From the descriptive responses, this study identified such problems as the inability of students to perform student-on-student and patient-based oral care training owing to the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission, and the lack of teaching materials, time, and human resources, and cooperation with other nursing fields and health professionals. This study revealed several problems in oral care education in the Bachelor of Nursing curriculums in Japan. To tackle these challenges, this study suggests the development of an interdisciplinary course that unifies oral care education in nursing fields, in order to promote collaborative oral care education and to improve nursing students' knowledge and skills of oral care.

Oral Care Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Black/African American Caregivers of Autistic Children and Non-Autistic Children.

Oral health is a vital component of overall health. Children from underserved, minoritized populations (i.e., Black/African Americans, autistic children) are at even greater risk for experiencing oral health disparities. This study aims to illuminate the oral health knowledge, attitudes, and practices of Black/African American caregivers of autistic and non-autistic children. Black/African American caregivers of children (4-to-14 years) on the autism spectrum (n = 65) or not on the autism spectrum (n = 60), participated in a survey, with input from literature reviews, interviews, previous research, and reviews by experts. Caregivers demonstrated basic knowledge of oral health with significantly lower scores for caregivers of autistic children. Caregivers care about oral health and would like to increase their knowledge. Significant differences in oral care practices were found between the autistic and non-autistic groups. Caregivers reported they can access dental services with relative ease, including finding their child a dentist, scheduling a dental appointment, and accessing transportation (personal or public) to attend the visit. Black/African American caregivers of autistic children and children without autism seem to have foundational knowledge about oral health and basic practices; however, they are interested in learning more. Therefore, tailored oral health education programs may help mitigate oral health disparities for Black/African American families.

Nurses’ practice and educational needs in oral care for postoperative patients with oral cancer in ICUs: a multicenter cross-sectional study

BackgroundSurgical incision, endotracheal intubation, structural changes in the oral cavity, and other factors lead to a divergence in oral care between patients after oral surgery and ordinary inpatients. High-quality oral care can reduce the incidence of incision infection and ventilator-associated pneumonia. However, there is a lack of guidelines or expert consensus on oral care after oral cancer surgery. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the practicing situation of nurses in the intensive care unit (ICU) for postoperative patients with oral cancer and their need for training.MethodsA multicenter cross-sectional study design was conducted in 19 ICUs of 11 tertiary hospitals from Henan province in China. Data were collected from 173 nurses and 19 head nurses online using a structured questionnaire. Mann–Whitney U and Kruskal–Wallis H tests were performed to analyze the data using SPSS (Version 25.0).ResultsSeven ICUs (36.8%) developed evaluation regulations for the oral care of postoperative patients with oral cancer, and eight ICUs (42.1%) described the operating standards. A total of 173 nurses completed the questionnaire, and the median score was 75 (68, 78). Almost all of the examined nurses (91.2%) assessed patients’ oral hygiene at a fixed time, while in 52.0% and 28.3% of nurses, the first oral care and frequency of oral care after surgery was determined based on the individual patient’s situation. More than half of the nurses (55.5%) spent approximately 5–10 min conducting oral care for patients. Physiological saline solution (82.7%), swabbing (91.9%), and oral care package with cotton ball (86.1%) were the most popular oral care mouthwash, method, and tool, respectively. Nurses sought help from senior nurses (87.3%) and doctors (83.8%), mostly to solve difficulties of oral care. Moreover, 76.9% of the nurses believed that the lack of knowledge and skills surrounding oral care was the main barrier for nurses to implement oral care. The majority of participants (69.4%) had never received continuing education or training in oral care for postoperative patients with oral cancer, and almost all (98.8%) of the respondents stated their preference to receive training in standardized oral care skills. Indications and contraindications (84.4%), tools (81.5%), and mouthwash (80.9%) of oral care were the items that the respondents were most eager to learn about. Approximately three quarters of nurses preferred scenario simulation practice as the training method.ConclusionAlthough the participants had high oral care scores for postoperative patients with oral cancer, there was great diversity in the practice. The lack of oral care knowledge was deemed the main barrier in delivering quality oral care, and the educational need was stated by almost all participants. We suggest that a standard protocol or clinical practice guidelines for oral care for postoperative patients with oral cancer should be developed, and nurses should be educated to equip them with professional knowledge and skills.

Analysis of the Effect of Systematic Oral Care Intervention on the Cognition Rate of Oral Care Knowledge of Patients with Periodontal Disease

Analysis of the Effect of Systematic Oral Care Intervention on the Cognition Rate of Oral Care Knowledge of Patients with Periodontal Disease