ABSTRACT
Assessing the needs and determining health priorities are essential to focus the attention in the right direction and use the scarce resources in the most efficient way that would positively affect the oral health status of the population, and help in maximizing the oral health results and enforcing equity. The present study was aimed at developing process dental nursing care standards based on literature review and eliciting participant's opinions regarding the importance of proposed standards. A methodological research design was used to determine the importance of proposed standards from point view of participants. The study was conducted in [34] governmental and nongovernmental dental clinics in Jenin district West Bank in Palestine. Subjects of the study included two groups consisted of [128] participants. Nursing group divided into two categories included [53] dental nurses, and [22] nurse managers, while dentistry group included [53]dentists. Data collection included Arabic questionnaire sheet aimed at determining the importance of tasks by eliciting participant's opinions. Results showed that majority of participants agreed upon importance of most proposed standards related to process dental nursing care, followed by development of these standards. As a conclusion, the developed standards are ready for application in study settings where they are urgently needed. It is recommended to apply developed standards in study settings and also in similar settings in other districts in Palestine. Training sessions about dental nursing care plan steps should be conducted for dental nurses to increase their knowledge