title: The impact of an oral hygiene education module on patient practices and nursing documentation
abstract: Oral hygiene is inconsistent among patients with cancer and is a national patient care issue. To promote comfort and nutritional status, oral hygiene for patients with cancer is important.
  
  
  
  The purpose of this study was to develop an evidence-based oral hygiene educational module (EM) for nursing and patient care technician (PCT) staff to promote consistent oral hygiene patient education; evaluate patient understanding of oral hygiene practices post-EM; and determine staff documentation frequency of oral hygiene care.
  
  
  
  Pre- and post-EM data were collected using a developed oral hygiene assessment tool; nursing documentation data were collected by chart review. Post-EM data were collected eight weeks post-EM. Data were analyzed using frequencies and the Mann-Whitney U test.
  
  
  
  Twenty-two patient documentation pairs were collected. Compared to pre-EM, admission teaching, patient education, and patient oral hygiene practices improved post-EM. Post-EM oral hygiene documentation and PCT teaching increased.
authors.forename: Lola
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Coke
authors.forename: Karine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Otten
authors.forename: Beth
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-3712-2207
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Staffileno
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Minarich
authors.forename: Candice
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nowiszewski
mesh_terms: D004282:Documentation; D057286:Electronic Health Records; D055318:Evidence-Based Nursing; D006801:Humans; D015146:Midwestern United States; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000451:nursing; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000193:education*; D016522:Oncology Service, Hospital; D009910:Oral Hygiene / Q000193:education*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic
keywords: informatics and electronic health records; oral hygiene; stomatitis