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2008 Community Health Committee
Fact Sheet

Download 2008 Resolution [PDF]

2008 House of Delegates Resolution: In Support of Increased Awareness of Oral Assessment and Hygiene and the Need for Appropriate Dental Referrals by Nurses

  • The United States Surgeon General declared the status of oral health in the United States a "silent epidemic" and that "no one should suffer from oral diseases or conditions that can be effectively prevented and treated"
  • Health People 2010 states that no one can be truly healthy unless he or she is free from the burden of oral and craniofacial diseases and conditions.
  • A healthy oral status is a core element for the health and ability to thrive of the patient/client in order to maintain optimal quality of life (McAuliffe, 2007.).
  • Conditions such as oral candidiasis, denture stomatitis, denture irritation, hyperplasia and traumatic ulceration may occur as a result of oral neglect. Poor oral hygiene has also been found to be a predisposing factor to chest infections and coronary heart disease (McAuliffe, 2007.)
  • Ventilator-acquired pneumonia, one of the predominant nosocomial infections in the health care industry, can be prevented in part by interventions among nursing staff such as appropriate oral hygiene and suctioning of the oral cavity (Augustyn, 2007.)
  • The patient/client undergoing treatment for a medical disease may not be receiving care from a dentist for various reasons, such as lack of insurance coverage. The number of dentally uninsured Americans totals more than 100 million (United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2003.)
  • The opportunity to assess, educate and refer to a dentist’s care belongs to nurses administering patient care in an office assisting a physician or nurse practitioner or in a hospital.
  • Nurses should frequently make oral assessments and implement oral hygiene, including detection of signs and symptoms and difficulties [in performing] oral hygiene procedures” on patients to maintain overall health.
  • Oral health of the patient/client will benefit from treatment administered by a multidisciplinary team of nurses, dental hygienists, physicians and dentists (United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2003.)

What Can Nursing Students Do?

  • Promote increased awareness among nurses and nursing students about the importance of oral assessment and hygiene as well as appropriate referrals as recommended by the United States Surgeon General and Healthy People 2010;
  • Read and discuss with NSNA members in school chapters and state chapters/associations research about the impact that poor oral health has on individual’s physiological health, as well as psychosocial development and quality of life;
  • Encourage evidence-based practice by nurses, nursing students, and nurse educators through colleague and peer modeling in both classroom and clinical locations of consistent oral assessment and hygiene, as well as appropriate dental referrals as needed.

Resources:

Augustyn, B. (2007). Ventilator-associated pneumonia: Risk factors and prevention. Critical Care Nurse, 27, 32-39.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS). Healthy People 2010 (Conference Edition, in two volumes). Washington; 2000 January

McAuliffe, A.(2007). Nursing students’practice in providing oral hygiene for patients. Nursing Standard: Royal College of Nursing, 21 (33).