Building interprofessional oral health competency across the nation's 4.2 million nurses.

The Oral Health Nursing Education and Practice (OHNEP) Program is an innovative national initiative, an AAN Edgerunner Program, that aims to enhance the nursing profession’s interprofessional role in oral health and its links to overall health in both academic and clinical settings. Funded by the CareQuest Institute for Oral Health, HRSA, and Colgate-Palmolive, OHNEP aims to integrate interprofessional oral health content and competencies for the nation’s 4.2 million nurses in undergraduate and graduate nursing programs through faculty and preceptor development, curriculum integration, and establishment of “best practices” in clinical settings.

The OHNEP program is committed to improving health equity by breaking down clinical silos and building interprofessional oral health workforce capacity that equips nursing faculty, preceptors, students and practicing clinicians with the competencies to prioritize oral disease prevention and health promotion; provide evidence-based oral health care across the healthcare continuum; and collaborate on health systems interprofessional teams. Nurses are key stakeholders advancing national policy initiatives to reduce oral and overall health disparities across the lifespan.

The OHNEP program is a national leader in cultivating oral health champions in nursing and other professions who believe oral health is key to overall health and wellbeing. We are confident all health professions play a role in reducing the burden of acute and chronic disease, especially the nursing profession, including registered nurses, nurse practitioners, and nurse-midwives, the largest component of the healthcare workforce. Expanding nursing expertise in oral health contributes to improving access to screening, preventive oral health services, and outcomes at high risk for poor oral health.

Nurse practitioners and midwives, the majority of whom practice in primary care settings, are perfectly positioned to include oral health assessment, intervention, and appropriate referral in their clinical standards of care. Registered nurses, whose scope of practice also includes health promotion and disease prevention collaborate with physicians, pharmacists, and dentists to assess and manage oral health issues associated with acute and chronic health conditions. The OHNEP Program provides technical assistance and consultation nationwide on oral health integration and to more than 500 undergraduate and graduate nursing programs in community colleges, colleges, and universities. National survey data reveal that more than 50% of nurse practitioner and midwifery programs report integrating oral health content and clinical competencies in their curricula. Clinical nurse leaders are spearheading interprofessional oral health integration initiatives across the healthcare continuum focused on hospital acquired pneumonia (HAP), ventilator acquired pneumonia (VAP), stroke, diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease and improving pregnancy and pediatric outcomes. The OHNEP Resource Hub is widely used with interprofessional and nursing open access products accessed on the OHNEP website (www.ohnep.org).

Key sources

1. 1Haber, J. & Cipollina, J. (2024). Oral Health Nursing Education and Practice Program: Ten-Year Outcomes. Sage Journals, 25(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/15271544231224450.