Abstract
A recent global report indicated that one in six of the adult population, will be aged 65 and above in 2050 up from one in 11 in 2019. A recent national survey suggested higher treatment needs among older adults, however, 64% of residential home do not have an oral health protocol.
A narrative review conducted and presented in the first chapter suggested that older adults in New Zealand residential home and long-term hospital care have higher oral health treatment needs. A study conducted among New Zealand residential home managers, nurses and caregivers suggested that the participants had a very minimal knowledge of dental caries and had never received any information regarding periodontal disease, the benefits of fluoride and oral-systemic health relationships.
A literature review was conducted and is presented in the second chapter, which indicated that there is no literature available to understand the current level of oral health care content in New Zealand nursing curricula and students ‘oral health care knowledge to care for their future patients. This study aimed to investigate the educational content relevant to elderly oral health care in nursing curricula, oral health knowledge of undergraduates, barriers to incorporate oral health care content and students’ attitude on providing oral health care for older adults.
A survey was conducted among nursing educators and nursing students in 18 undergraduate nursing institutes in New Zealand. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected from nursing educators and final year nursing students to investigate the study aims. Quantitative data was analysed using SPSS software and qualitative data was analysed descriptively and presented as themes.
Detailed information on questionnaire development, pilot study, ethical considerations and data collection procedures were described in the third chapter. The results are presented in the next three chapters in manuscript format. Out of 18 nursing institutes in New Zealand, 14 institutes participated in the survey providing a 78% response rate. 148 students participated in the student’s survey making it 14% of 2020 graduates. The survey among nursing educators suggested that risk factors associated with dental caries and periodontal health are not taught in almost 40% of schools. The four themes identified in qualitative analyses were “no barrier”, “lack of expertise”, “no space for more content” and oral health content “already included”.
The students survey results suggested that nursing students have a good basic oral health knowledge, however, their knowledge of the oral systemic disease connection and oral examination was poor. The students thought that oral health care education was overlooked, and they indicated that they received very minimal oral health education. The nursing students thought that oral health care education was also overlooked in the nursing curriculum. Nursing students s believed that health professionals should be accountable for their patients’ oral health.
Even though educators reported that oral health care content is already incorporated in the nursing curriculum, the student survey report suggested that the current content is not enough for students to provide oral health care for their future patients. Integrating the quantitative and qualitative results implied that nursing accreditation standards do not address oral health and a curriculum review and revision was recommended to establish a value base for oral health in nursing curricula in New Zealand.