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Mouth care matters and hospitals need to ensure inpatients receive good oral health careBinks C et al (2017) Standardising the delivery of oral health care practice in hospitals. Nursing Times; 113: 11, 18-21.How to use this article for your journal club discussionPrint and read the article before your journal club meeting, and use the author commentary and discussion points below to help get your discussions started. Participation in journal clubs can be used for revalidation as:Participatory CPD: describe what you have learnt and how you will apply it to your practice, and how it links to the NMC Code;Reflective accounts: think about what you learned from your discussions, how you can use your learning to improve your practice, and how this relates to the NMC Code.If you subscribe to Nursing Times, log the evidence in the ‘Other professional development’ or ‘Reflective accounts’ section of your NT Portfolio.Author commentary: we hope Mouth Care Matters improves careGood mouth care is important, not least because of the evidence linking oral health with systemic diseases such as pneumonia, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. From previous research we also know that oral health tends to worsen during a hospital stay, and that poor oral health can cause oral disease, slow down recovery, lengthen hospital stay and negatively affect both general health and psychological wellbeing. However, we do not know much about what mouth care actually looks like in practice for hospital inpatients, and how mouth care is approached by acute hospital trusts at a policy level. Research on mouth care often focuses on particular groups, such as intubated patients in intensive care units or patients going through rehabilitation after a stroke. But what about the majority of the hospital inpatient population?In 2014, a Care Quality Commission report flagged up some issues with mouth care at East Surrey Hospital. A review was undertaken and from it emerged the hospital arm of the Mouth Care Matters initiative, which aims to improve patients’ oral health by training nurses and other health professionals and ensuring they have the tools and resources they need. Mouth Care Matters was then extended to other acute trusts in Kent, Surrey and Sussex. Its implementation involved obtaining information from the trusts about current oral care provision. This data collection exercise showed gaps in terms of oral health products, resources, policies, training and pathways. We hope that the implementation of Mouth Care Matters will improve oral care practices and contribute to better outcomes for patients. Authors: Charlotte Binks is community dental officer at Kent Community Health Foundation Trust; Mili Doshi is consultant in special care dentistry at East Surrey Hospital; Jessica Mann is DCT2 in special care dentistry at East Surrey Hospital. Discussion pointsIn your hospital or trust, where and how is the oral health status and care of inpatients recorded? Do you think there is a need for a dedicated oral health recording tool?Does your trust have an oral care policy? If not, do you think it should?What type of staff training is most effective for improving oral health care: classroom training? Ward-based training? e-learning? A combination thereof?Considering that NHS resources are scarce, do you think wards should provide patients with toothbrushes and toothpaste (or dry mouth gels)? Or should this be entirely the responsibility of patients and their relatives or carers?If all hospitals had access to dental services and clear pathways for patients to access these services if needed, would this improve care and speed up recovery?Beyond nurses, do you think doctors and allied health professionals would benefit from oral health training? If so, in what ways?Taking into consideration the 2012 medical device alert regarding oral foam swabs, should these products be used in patient care? Are there any alternatives?Mouth care matters and hospitals need to ensure inpatients receive good oral health careBinks C et al (2017) Standardising the delivery of oral health care practice in hospitals. Nursing Times; 113: 11, 18-21.-63500165735Revalidation evidenceMake a note of how your journal club discussion relates to your own practice and the NMC Code, what you learnt from reading and discussing the article and how you will use this learning to change your practice. If you subscribe to Nursing Times, you can upload this article with your notes into your NT Portfolio as evidence of participatory CPD. You can also use it as the basis for a reflective account.0Revalidation evidenceMake a note of how your journal club discussion relates to your own practice and the NMC Code, what you learnt from reading and discussing the article and how you will use this learning to change your practice. If you subscribe to Nursing Times, you can upload this article with your notes into your NT Portfolio as evidence of participatory CPD. You can also use it as the basis for a reflective account.Your notes ................
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