# Factors associated with nurses’ challenges in providing oral care at Oulu University Hospital, Finland

## TL;DR

This study explores why nurses face challenges in providing oral care to infection-sensitive patients at a hospital in Finland.

## Contribution

The study identifies specific factors like nursing education, self-perceived oral health, and self-efficacy that influence challenges in oral care delivery.

## Key findings

- Practical nurses face more challenges in evaluating patients' oral problems than registered nurses.
- Nurses with lower self-efficacy in practical skills report more challenges related to lack of knowledge in mouth cleaning.
- Higher self-efficacy in detecting oral problems is linked to fewer challenges in managing resisting patients.

## Abstract

To investigate factors associated with nurses’ challenges in providing oral care to infection-sensitive patients.

A total of 114 nurses from four internal medicine wards and one oncology ward participated in the study. Data were collected using a questionnaire containing six items about challenges in providing oral care to patients. A multivariate linear regression model was used to analyze the association between explanatory variables and challenges in oral care.

Practical nurses reported more challenges in evaluating patients’ oral problems compared to registered nurses (B = 1.8, p ≤ 0.01). Nurses reporting fairly good or poor oral health reported more challenges in managing resisting patients than those who reported good oral health (B = 1.1, p < 0.05). Higher self-efficacy in Practical skills was associated with fewer challenges related to having a lack of knowledge about cleaning a patient’s mouth (B= −0.9, p ≤ 0.01) and evaluating patients’ oral problems (B = −0.5, p ≤ 0.01). Higher self-efficacy in Confidence to detect oral problems was associated with fewer challenges in managing resisting patients (B= −0.6, p ≤ 0.01) and evaluating patients’ oral problems (B = −0.5, p ≤ 0.001).

Nursing education, self-perceived oral health, and self-efficacy were associated with perceived challenges.