A common understanding of oral hygiene care could
improve communication of that nursing intervention among
nurses and other members of the healthcare team, contribute
to the assessment of nurses’ competence in the performance
of such interventions, and help nurse preceptors who
teach students and guide new nurses during orientation.
When nurses teach, direct and supervise unregulated care
providers in delivering oral hygiene care, having accurate
knowledge of the defining attributes of that intervention
would support consistent quality of care.
A clear notion of oral hygiene care as an intervention is
required when designing electronic documentation systems
from which data can be extracted to support research and
quality improvement projects. The outcomes of this concept
analysis and subsequent research could contribute to defining
the knowledge base for nursing practice and nursing curricula
and could inform evidence-based practice guidelines and care
standards developed by professional nursing organizations.
As the professionals providing (or directing) daily oral
hygiene care, nurses can have a major impact on patient outcomes.
Many of the potential consequences of oral hygiene care
identified in this concept analysis would be considered nursingsensitive
outcomes, as described by Doran et al. (2011). The
link between oral hygiene care by nurses and the rates of hospital-
acquired pneumonia, for example, could demonstrate the
impact of nursing care not only on individual patient outcomes,
but at an organizational and healthcare system level.
The results of this concept analysis are a starting point,
not an end. Schwartz-Barcott and Kim’s (2000) hybrid
model of concept analysis could extend the current analysis
of oral hygiene care by including a fieldwork phase
employing observational methods. A systematic review of
the effectiveness of the strategies that emerged as defining
attributes should be conducted to determine their evidence
base. The link between antecedents and the delivery of oral
hygiene care, and the link between oral hygiene care and its
consequences, require further testing through research.
Nurses are in a position to make an impact on oral health
outcomes of their patients, but they need to know how to
intervene to make a difference. There may be a cost associated
with an ambiguous definition of oral hygiene care.
Acknowledgement
The authors thank Karen Kiely, Registered Dental Hygienist.
Funding
This research received no specific grant from any funding
agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Conflict of interest
No conflict of interest has been declared by the authors.