Integrating oral health into professional nursing practice: an interprofessional faculty tool kit

Millions of children and adults in the United States have unmet oral health care needs, and professional nurses can play a central role in reducing oral health disparities and expanding access to care. Interprofessional education is requisite to improving oral health care outcomes. Baccalaureate nursing programs need to prepare collaborative practice-ready professional nurses to improve oral health care especially for vulnerable and underserved individuals, communities, and populations. This article presents an interprofessional faculty tool kit that builds upon The Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice as a framework for preparing professional nurses with basic knowledge, skills, and attitudes in oral health promotion and disease and injury prevention across the life cycle. Expectations for professional nursing practice are described within the context of The Essentials and contemporary oral health care issues. Exemplars of interprofessional teaching-learning strategies are provided to assist nurse faculty with integrating oral health into baccalaureate nursing curriculum. Nurse educators are called to prioritize oral health as an essential component of overall health and well-being, increase the visibility of evidence-based oral health promotion and disease and injury prevention in baccalaureate nursing curricula, and support interprofessional oral health education and collaborative care.