References
Swapping drills for dressings: redeployment of dentists to community nursing
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has placed increased strain on many aspects of the NHS. Dentists have been identified as having skills transferable to support community nursing teams as part of the redeployment response. This article aims to explore the roles dentists have undertaken within the community setting and reflect on dentists' transferable skills, training and personal experiences during redeployment. Despite differences in healthcare delivery, both professions share skills surrounding professionalism, communication, raising concerns and consent. Community nurses have supported dentists through specific training and competencies so that the latter are equipped with skills to support roles including wound care, catheter care and medication administration. Dentists have been well-received by community nursing colleagues and patients during redeployment. This experience has enabled redeployed dentists to establish new skillsets while improving their appreciation for the fundamental role that community nurses play within society.
In March 2020, NHS England instructed dentists to cease all routine dentistry in response to the COVID-19 pandemic (NHS England, 2020a). Most dental procedures (including scaling, restorations and surgical extractions) are aerosol-generating procedures (AGP) and, therefore, present a high risk of transmitting infectious agents. A remote triaging system was implemented until urgent dental centres (UDCs) were established to provide acute dental care (Public Health England (PHE), 2020).
A framework for the initial phase of voluntary redeployment among hospital-based dental teams was introduced in order to assist allied health professionals within the wider NHS (General Dental Council (GDC), 2020). Restricted to telephone triage, dentists within the hospital trust volunteered to provide their services in a variety of new settings, including community nursing and COVID-19 testing. A multitude of factors contributed to redeployment status, including clinical competency and individual risk assessments.
Register now to continue reading
Thank you for visiting Community Nursing and reading some of our peer-reviewed resources for district and community nurses. To read more, please register today. You’ll enjoy the following great benefits:
What's included
-
Limited access to clinical or professional articles
-
New content and clinical newsletter updates each month