ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: The need for education about oral health conditions has been discussed in recent years. Current research has shown correlations between oral and systemic disease. Disease entities have been connected to bacteremia and inflammatory process es, both of which can result from oral pathologies. Professionals need to be educated about these connections and advised how, by maintaining proper oral health, they may avoid systemic consequences. Students in dental hygiene, health care management and nursing programs can play a vital role in this education. By jointly creating and operating an educational Center for Oral Health Promotion, they can better understand each other's professions. This will facilitate developing the skill set to reach out to the underserved and establish protocols to provide health literacy and care at affordable rates. They can also better appreciate the interconnections between health care delivery and its management while gaining skills needed to work in an inter-professional setting. A Center for Oral Health Promotion would expand services typically offered in dental hygiene educational settings as well as expand dental hygiene, nursing and health care management student experiences.
Subject(s)
Dental Hygienists/education , Education, Nursing , Health Personnel/education , Health Promotion , Interprofessional Relations , Oral Health , Adult , Child , Clinical Competence , Communication , Cost Savings , Delivery of Health Care/organization & administration , Fee Schedules , Female , Health Care Costs , Health Facilities , Health Literacy , Health Services Accessibility , Health Status , Humans , Male , Medically Underserved Area , Mentors , Patient Care Team , Patient-Centered CareSubject(s)
Mandibular Neoplasms/diagnostic imaging , Mandibular Neoplasms/pathology , Odontogenic Cyst, Calcifying/diagnostic imaging , Odontogenic Cyst, Calcifying/pathology , Adult , Biopsy , Humans , Male , Mandible/diagnostic imaging , Mandible/pathology , Mandible/surgery , Mandibular Neoplasms/surgery , Odontogenic Cyst, Calcifying/surgery , RadiographyABSTRACT
This article reports the findings of a survey-based study conducted in 2006 to determine graduating dental hygiene students' attitudes toward ethical dilemmas in eight areas of practice: substandard care, overtreatment of patients, scope of practice, fraud, confidentiality, impaired professionals, sexual harassment, abuse, and health status. The findings, based on responses from 1,165 students at 141 U.S. dental hygiene programs, indicate that many dental hygiene students do not understand what behaviors in the patient care environment are consistent with ethical practice and which are not. Responding students believed that hygienists have a strong duty to report, intercede, or educate in areas of abuse, sexual harassment, detection of cancer, and smoking cessation. However, they were less likely to report concerns about ethical transgressions such as fraud, inadequate infection control, exceeding practice scope, and failure to diagnose disease when such disclosures could potentially threaten their employment status. Based on the results, we recommend that dental hygiene programs explore curriculum enhancements to improve students' comprehension of what constitutes fraud and other ethical transgressions and the proper reporting mechanisms.
