RESUMO
Objective: This study aimed to increase nurses' interest and priority in oral care by implementing educational interventions, such as teaching oral care methods suitable for each patient in clinical settings, over a period of one year. Materials and Methods: This study included all 150 nurses working in Unnan City Hospital in Japan who answered a questionnaire comprising 19 questions regarding awareness, actual implementation status of oral care provided, burden, and involvement with oral and maxillofacial surgery department of the hospital, along with participants' characteristics. The rate of interest in learning, need for oral care, time spent in oral care, and oral health-related caregiver burden index (OHBI) score were compared between pre- and post-intervention groups. Results: The number and rate of valid questionnaires were 136 and 90.7%, respectively. The mean years of clinical experience were 19.3 ± 12.5 years; 93.4% of the nurses were women. After the interventions by dental specialists, the nurses' level of interest in and priority to oral care were significantly higher than those before the interventions (p < 0.001), regardless of nurses' background, such as age, gender, or years of experience. However, the "burden" did not statistically decrease. Conclusions: This study shows that dental specialists succeeded in significantly increasing nurses' interest in and priority to oral care by intervening in clinical practice but failed in decreasing nurses' burden of oral care. In the future, we would like to investigate the problems that hinder the reduction of the sense of burden, reduce the burden of nurses' oral care, and improve oral care.
RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: This cross-sectional study investigated the oral care knowledge, awareness, and challenges of 159 nurses and identified the factors related to the burden of oral care in Unnan City Hospital, Japan. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study included outpatient, ward, and operating room nurses who answered a questionnaire comprising 19 questions regarding awareness, actual implementation status of oral care provided, burden and learning experiences of oral care, and participants' characteristics. A univariate regression model was used to assess whether catheterization was associated with the independent variables. RESULTS: The number and rate of valid questionnaires were 134 and 87.6%, respectively. The mean years of clinical experience were 18.71 ± 12.02 years; 95.5% of the nurses were women. There were significant differences in the Oral Health-related Caregiver Burden Index among "interest in oral care" (p = 0.006), "priority of oral care" (p = 0.005), and "burden of oral care". CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that nurses who are highly interested in oral care, prioritize oral care, and do not perceive oral care as a burden. Educational interventions, such as training sessions and direct guidance to solve challenges, are needed and can lead to improvements in the quality of life and advancement of health.