NSG 4076 Week 10 Journal – Bi-weekly Practicum Journaling Write a brief (300-word) personal reflection describing interprofessional collaboration during your experiences in the clinical setting.

NSG 4076 Week 10 Journal – Bi-weekly Practicum Journaling

In my work, I have collaborated with clinicians and other health workers with various qualifications and specializations. During my work in dental care, I have collaborated with other nurses and physicians to give dental care to pregnant women. Increased levels of estrogenic hormones, changes in nutrition, decreased saliva output, and poor oral hygiene all increase the risk of oral health issues in pregnant women. Oral health issues during pregnancy may cause discomfort, functional limitations, and a worse quality of life. Mothers with caries are more likely to pass the germs that cause the disease on to their children, increasing the risk of early childhood caries (Liu et al., 2019). Pregnancy-related complications are linked to the microorganisms that cause periodontitis and dental caries.

Some of the challenges we faced as a group included: no apparent dental issues; the belief that dental visits should be avoided during pregnancy or concern about the safety thereof; bad experiences in previous dental visits or fear; difficulty locating a dentist willing to treat pregnant women; long wait times when attending public dental clinics; and financial concerns.

We, therefore, needed to come up with ways to mitigate these challenges, such as by educating pregnant women on safe dental care during pregnancy. While pregnant women who get adequate or clear information are more likely to seek dental treatment, those who receive less or conflicting information are less likely to do so (Liu et al., 2019). We learned how to better serve pregnant women by examining their needs and researching their expectations for receiving oral health information and services. Through this study, we deduced and emphasized the significance of referring women to dental care, enhancing midwives’ knowledge and practice in assisting expectant mothers in gaining access to dental treatment.

References

Liu, P. P., Wen, W., Yu, K. F., Gao, X., & Wong, M. (2019). Dental Care-Seeking and Information Acquisition During Pregnancy: A Qualitative Study. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(14), 2621. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16142621