Date of Award
5-2025
Degree Type
Honors College Thesis
Academic Program
Nursing BSN
Department
Nursing
First Advisor
Elizabeth Tinnon, Ph.D.
Advisor Department
Nursing
Abstract
Oral health is an important part of overall health and well-being. In nursing care, maintaining good oral hygiene helps prevent infections, improves comfort, and supports nutrition especially in patients who are extremely sick, elderly, or unable to care for themselves. Nurses play a key role in assessing and promoting oral health as part of the daily care that they provide to patients. Even though oral health is important, it is often not emphasized enough in nursing education. Many nursing students may not get enough training or experience in this area, which can lead to gaps in their knowledge and confidence when caring for patients’ oral health. Assessing their knowledge can help identify what they need to learn so they can provide better care in the future. The main aim of this research is to assess the level of knowledge that student nurses have about oral health care and to identify any gaps in their understanding that could impact patient care.
The participants in this study were fifth-semester and fourth-semester nursing students from the School of Nursing and Health Professions at The University of Southern Mississippi (USM). Data was gathered using the “Oral Health and Nursing” survey which was created by another group of researchers studying the same topic, which was distributed to students via email by nursing faculty members. This research followed a quantitative approach evaluating the students’ knowledge and understanding of oral health care in nursing practice. The results showed that approximately 96% of the nursing students recognized the importance of oral health in relation to overall health. However, despite this awareness, many students demonstrated limited knowledge when it came to specific information about oral health care. A common pattern observed was that while students understood oral health’s significance, they lacked confidence in areas such as tooth development, how oral health affects overall health, and understanding the nurse’s role in promoting oral hygiene. The findings suggest that while nursing students are aware of the importance of oral health, there is a noticeable gap in their detailed knowledge and practical understanding of oral health care. This indicates that the current nursing curriculum may not be placing enough emphasis on oral health education, or that the topic is not being thoroughly emphasized in clinical training. By pointing out potential gaps in students’ knowledge, this research can help instructors and institutions see that they need to add more about oral health to nursing classes. Improving this area of education could better prepare future nurses to assess, identify, and address oral health issues in their patients, ultimately leading to more effective patient care.
Copyright
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Recommended Citation
McNalty, Heaven, "Replication of “Assessing the Student Nurses’ Knowledge of Oral Health Care”" (2025). Honors Theses. 1024.
https://aquila.usm.edu/honors_theses/1024