Effect of an oral health assessment education program on nurses' knowledge and patient care practices in skilled nursing facilities.

This pilot intervention study measured the impact of an oral health education intervention on nurses' knowledge and patient care practices in regard to oral assessments of institutionalized elders. Two 1-hour education sessions were completed over a 3-week period; a pretest and a posttest were administered immediately preceding the first session and immediately following the second session. Medical records were reviewed prior to and after the intervention to assess practices including completeness of oral health assessment and congruency with the Minimum Data Set 2.0 (MDS). Nine nurses attended the education intervention. Retrospectively, 176 records were reviewed preintervention and 80 postintervention. There was no significant change in knowledge from the pre- to posttest (p= .262). Completeness of all oral health assessment variables increased significantly (p= .001) as did the congruency of data between the nursing assessment (NA) and MDS assessments (p= .002). Providing nurses with education on oral health assessments in skilled nursing facilities has a positive impact on completeness of data and congruency between the NA and the MDS.