Toronto_The Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) was recently acknowledged by the Canadian Dental Association (CDA) for its contribution to oral health promotion. The Oral Health Promotion award was bestowed on the nursing association for its best practice guideline, Oral Health: Nursing Assessment and Interventions. Irmajean Bajnok, Director of International Affairs and Best Practice Guidelines Program at RNAO said, “We’re thrilled to receive this award and applaud the CDA for valuing this important work in promoting oral health and for enhancing inter-professional collaboration in a very real way.”
The guideline was developed to assist nurses by providing them with evidence-based oral health resources for adults with special needs including the elderly, the physically compromised and those with mental health issues. The guideline has the ability to raise the oral health awareness of the 144 ,000 nurses practicing in Ontario and to support professional development in oral health care for all health-care professionals in Ontario. The award was presented by CDA president, Dr. Friendlander to Toba Miller, Registered Nurse, and guideline panel leader in Ottawa.
RNAO’s guideline hopes to advance the promotion of oral health as well as, prevention of oral diseases and disorders. In order to support the uptake of the Oral Health Best Practice Guideline, which was published in December 2008, the RNAO partnered with the Halton Region Health Department to produce two DVDs to assist nurses and other health-care professionals to deliver safe, effective oral care to vulnerable groups. www.rnao.org
