Implementing and Evaluating the Impact of a Nurse-Led Oral Care Initiative

BACKGROUND Nursing interventions in oral hygiene have been shown to be important for health promotion and illness prevention. This medical center advanced a registered nurse (RN)-led oral health initiative to introduce and standardize oral care practices. PROBLEM To examine the impact of the oral health initiative, we conducted an evaluation of documentation trends among RNs and the effect of the initiative on patients' oral health during hospitalization. APPROACH We used a single-group pretest-posttest design and drew a sample of all inpatients who were admitted to the medical center from October 1 through December 31, 2017. OUTCOMES Of the 13 303 patients admitted, the empirical evidence demonstrates 99.5% compliance in documentation at admission and discharge. Among 13 237 patients, there was improvement in patients' oral health during hospitalization (-0.03, P < .001), especially those initially assessed with moderate or severe dysfunction. CONCLUSIONS The oral health initiative standardized assessment and care practices that have improved outcomes in patients' oral hygiene.