The topic of oral care is currently receiving special attention: at the 10th consensus conference of the German Network for Quality Development in Nursing (DNQP), the expert standard for the promotion of oral health in nursing was presented in May 2021. The standard is currently being introduced via a model implementation at 30 care facilities in various settings - such as hospitals or inpatient care facilities - and is being scientifically monitored; final publication is planned for fall 2022.
www.mund-pflege.net: Learning everything important about oral health digitally
HNU supports this standard as part of the project "VR-supported e-learning for care in rural areas - a model project for innovative oral health prevention, Dental and Oral Health Prevention in Care (DO-Care)". DO-Care pursues the goal of sustainably improving the dental and oral health of elderly people in care, especially in rural areas, with the help of the e-learning concept and elements of virtual reality (VR), which was specially developed for nursing staff, relatives and people in need of care.
To this end, the team around project leader Prof. Dr. Harald Mehlich had conducted interviews with nursing staff, trainees and mentors at the Elisabethenhaus Charleston residential and nursing center in Ulm (EH) as well as with specialist teachers at the health and nursing school in Mainz during the project period to date, and a nationwide online survey was conducted among professional nursing staff to better assess and further develop the e-learning platform. Based on the findings obtained in this context, the project team developed the web-based e-learning platform "mund-pflege.net", which is suitable for digital end devices. At www.mund-pflege.net, all interested parties can now obtain information on the subject of dental and oral health that has been prepared in a clear and competent manner.
About the funding program
As part of the program "Research at Universities of Applied Sciences - FH-Sozial", the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is funding an innovative e-learning concept with virtual reality developed at HNU with the funding code 13FH024SX8in the amount of 750,000 euros. The federal grant for HNU will finance two scientific positions (project duration: 01.08.2020 - 31.07.2024).
Further information can be found on the project website at www.hnu.de/do-care.
About the DNQP expert standards
The German Network for Quality Development in Nursing (DNQP) at the Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences is a nationwide association of expert colleagues in nursing who deal with the topic of quality development. For more than twenty years, nursing care in Germany has been guided by the DNQP's expert standards. Topics such as fall prophylaxis, pain management or currently oral health are of great relevance in all settings of nursing care - whether outpatient or inpatient, whether hospital or nursing facility. As a coordinated level of performance, a DNQP expert standard demands in-depth discussion on the part of nursing and leads to noticeable and sustainable improvements in the quality of care.
