‘Whose role is it anyway?’ Experiences of community nurses in the delivery and support of oral health care for older people living at home: a grounded theory study

BMC Nursing

Research

Georgios Tsakos¹  Caroline Lappin²  Nicola Holland³  Paul Brocklehurst⁴  Gerry McKenna⁵  Barry Quinn⁶  Patrick Stark⁶  Christine Brown Wilson⁶  Gary Mitchell⁶ 

[1] Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK;Department of Health, Castle Buildings, Stormont, Belfast, Northern Ireland;Department of Health, Castle Buildings, Stormont, Belfast, Northern Ireland;School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland;School of Health Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, UK;School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland;School of Nursing and Midwifery, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland;

关键词: Oral health;    Oral healthcare;    Older people;    Nursing;    Community nursing;    District nursing;    Home healthcare;    Home health care services;    Grounded theory;    Experiences;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12912-023-01533-0

 received in 2022-12-02, accepted in 2023-09-25,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundOlder people who receive care at home are likely to require support with oral health care. Community nurses, who are also referred to as district or home care nurses, have an important role with this population. This is because they are the healthcare professionals who are most likely to encounter this population, who may also not be receiving regular dental care or oral health promotion. However, few studies have explored community nursing experiences in the delivery and support of oral healthcare for older people living at home.MethodsA grounded theory approach was used to explore experiences of community nurses in the delivery and support of oral health care for older people living at home. Fifteen practising community nurses from the United Kingdom participated in one-to-one semi-structed interviews from May 2021 to December 2021. These interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using constant comparative analysis. Ethical approval was obtained for this study prior to data collection.ResultsFour categories emerged from the data to support development of the core phenomena. These four categories were: (1) Education, in relation to what community nurses knew about oral health, (2) Practice, with regards to how community nurses delivered oral health care to older people in their own home, (3) Confidence, with consideration to the extent to which this supported or impeded community nurses in providing oral healthcare to older people and (4) Motivation, in terms of the extent to which community nurses thought they could or should influence future practice improvement in the area. The core category was (C) Uncertainty as it was both present and central across all four categories and related to community nursing understanding about their specific role, and the role of other professionals, with reference to oral health of their patients.ConclusionsThis study reveals community nurses' uncertainty in providing oral healthcare to older adults at home. Emphasising comprehensive and continuous oral health education can boost nurses' confidence in patient support. Interprofessional collaboration and clear role definitions with oral health professionals are crucial for improving oral health outcomes in this vulnerable population.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2023

【 图 表 】

Fig. 1