Oral health assessment by nursing staff of Alzheimer's patients in a long-term-care facility

• Published in: Special care in dentistry Vol. 19; no. 2; p. 64
• Main Authors: Lin, C Y, Jones, D B, Godwin, K, Godwin, R K, Knebl, J A, Niessen, L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.03.1999
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Alzheimer Disease - nursing; Confidence Intervals; Dental Care for Aged; Dental Prosthesis; Female; Geriatric Assessment; Geriatric Nursing - education; Health Status; Health Status Indicators; Homes for the Aged; Humans; Inservice Training; Long-Term Care; Male; Middle Aged; Mouth - anatomy & histology; Needs Assessment; Nurses' Aides - education; Nursing Staff - education; Observer Variation; Oral Health; Oral Hygiene; Reproducibility of Results; Saliva - physiology; Sensitivity and Specificity; Statistics, Nonparametric; Tooth Diseases - classification
• ISSN: 0275-1879
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1754-4505.1999.tb01370.x

Dental care and oral hygiene are often neglected in nursing homes. This study examines the effect of an education program on the ability of nursing staff to conduct an oral health assessment for a population of persons with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders. The findings of this study showed that the CNA's are as capable as the Licensed Nurses in assessing oral health status. In future training of nursing staff, increased emphasis on identification of problems in specific areas may improve the overall assessments by nurses and nursing assistants.