UCSF

Purpose: This study was designed to provide oral health education to pediatric nurse practitioner students at the University of California, San Francisco. We predicted that following a multifaceted educational intervention, study participants will improve their knowledge and confidence, and be more likely to incorporate oral health examinations into their routine examinations of children.

Methods: 31 pediatric nurse practitioner students were enrolled in the study. Participants completed a written questionnaire before and after receiving a multifaceted educational intervention which included didactic education, simulation exercises in small groups, and clinical observation with a pediatric dentist

Results: A significant improvement was seen in the study subject's knowledge of oral health topics (p < 0.001), confidence when providing counseling (p < 0.001), attitudes toward including counseling in exams (p = 0.0057), and the number of oral health exam performed by the pediatric nurse practitioner students(p < 0.001) using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test for all calculations.

Conclusions: Our study suggests that a multi-faceted oral health education program may increase a PNP's knowledge, improve confidence, and encourage them to include oral health in their examinations of children.