Oral health care--the perceptions and self-reported practices of nurses

A structured, 40-item, self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 290 nurses attending an international health care conference held in Pretoria, South Africa. The questionnaire focused on; personal and demographic details of the respondents, history of dental disease and dental attendance, exposure to oral health during and after basic nurse training, opinions on oral health and the nursing curriculum, perceptions on the relationship between nurses and oral health personnel, perceived ability to promote oral health and self-reported contributions to oral health. The 153 respondents were predominantly female (140, 93.3%) with a mean age (+/- Standard deviation) of 43.0 +/- 7.5 years. One hundred and twenty one (79.1%) had previously visited a dental clinic for personal care and 105 (68.6%) had suffered from dental disease, dental pain, bleeding gums or bad breadth. Only 71 (46.4%) were exposed to experiences in assessing and caring for clients with oral disease during their training. Significant positive correlation were found between exposure (during training) to experiences in assessing and caring for clients with oral diseases and some factors. One hundred and forty-eight (96.7%) agreed oral health should be integrated into the nursing curriculum. Forty-one (26.8%) indicated they have not been contributing to the oral health of their clients or community while 92 (60.1%) described their personal contributions as fair. One hundred and thirty six respondents (88.9%) wished to be able to do more for their clients in the area of oral health.