• To be aware of the barriers to and facilitators of integration of oral care into nursing practice in care homes
• To learn about some of the measures that may support nurses to implement high-quality oral care in their practice
• To consider the role of nurse oral care champion as an approach to enhancing the delivery of oral care
This article details a narrative review that explored the barriers to and facilitators of integration of oral care into nursing practice in care homes to enhance nurses’ delivery of oral care. Three themes were identified: gaps in oral care protocols and the complexity of nursing oral care; how interprofessional collaboration and education can improve oral care; and limitations and unresolved issues in nurses’ oral care training.
The review found that interprofessional collaboration and education were important in normalising oral care practice and nurse leadership in care homes. Nurse-led interprofessional oral care could enhance the quality of care in care homes by advancing interprofessional collaboration and education, coordinating care and improving organisational support.
Nursing Older People. 34, 4, 27-34. doi: 10.7748/nop.2022.e1406
Correspondence Peer reviewThis article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and has been checked for plagiarism using automated software
Conflict of interestNone declared
PermissionTo reuse this article or for information about reprints and permissions, please contact permissions@rcni.com
Write for usFor information about writing for RCNi journals, contact writeforus@rcni.com
For author guidelines, go to rcni.com/writeforus
RCNi LearningFor related learning modules, go to rcnilearning.com
or
Are you a student? Our student subscription has content especially for you.
Find out more
