The role of dental nurses in sub-district health promoting hospitals to the performance following dental public health indicators in 2015

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the role of dental nurses and factors that relate to the performance following dental public health indicators. This was a cross sectional study. Sampling from 4 regions, 4 provinces for each region. Total number was 16 provinces, Samplers were every dental nurse who working at sub-district health promoting hospitals more than 1 year. Data was collected between February and March 2016. The questionnaire was sent by mail. The return rate was 49 percent. 83.5 percent of samplers were women, average age was 28.4 years. The study found that dental nurses recognized all five roles in “very good” level and could practice follow the roles, the only exception was the research to develop oral health promoting and preventing model that relate to their context. Only 37.3 percent of dental nurses had the performance follow all dental public health indicators in 2015. The factors that had significantly effect to performance following dental public health indicators were the perception of all 3 roles of dental nurses which were basic dental service (p=0.001), proactive dental public health (p<0.001) and management and academic (p=0.014) ; and the practice following roles in 4 roles which were basic dental service (p<0.001), proactive dental public health (p=0.001), management and academic (p=0.003) and community empowerment (p<0.001). The dental nurses who has good attitude toward health promotion in “middle and high” level had significantly higher performance following dental public health indicators in 2015 than the group of “low” level (p=0.009).