Oral health care awareness among nursing students in an Indian school â?? an experimental study

Abstract

Sunila Bukanakere Sangappa, Nandlal Bhojraj, Brinda Godhi, Thippeswamy Manjunathappa

The aim of this study was to determine the impact of a course on oral health care awareness among third-year undergraduate nursing students. This experimental study included all the students from the third year nursing undergraduate course (n=42) during the academic year 2102 -13. The intervention for the study included lectures, videos & live demonstrations on models and patients for oral health care. The effectiveness of the 3hr course was ascertained with a pretest and posttest 30-item questionnaire. The groups did differ significantly at the post-test, yielding highly significant results (p<0.001) indicating the improvement in the students’ competency in oral health knowledge and skills after implementation of a course on oral health care. Oral Health Care Awareness amongst Nursing Students has a strong impact on improving the students’ competency in oral health knowledge and skills. Introducing the teaching and training of the essential components of oral health care in a nursing school is a prerequisite for good practice.