How to Develop Your Career in Dental Nursing

Description:

How to Develop Your Career in Dental Nursing

Documents the challenges, benefits, and progression opportunities of a career in dental nursing

How to Develop Your Career in Dental Nursing provides practical information on how to progress your career in dental nursing. Guidance is included throughout, and the reader should use the book to make informed decisions and conduct further research for the benefit of their own career. The book considers the historical context, along with reviewing the current position of dental nursing and considering the future of the field, all with the overarching theme of helping dental nurses further their career in modern dentistry.

Topics covered include:

• Dental Nursing from a profession and social context, as well as gender perspectives
• Differences in dental nursing worldwide
• Formal and informal training and education
• Pros and cons for dental nurses and dentistry as the profession has developed
• The impact of working in a modern environment
• How dental nurses can become agents for change
• Dental nursing as an academic versus vocational endeavor

Written by highly qualified authors, How to Develop Your Career in Dental Nursing is an invaluable resource for Dental Nurses, as well as students beginning their professional journey.

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Preface

When the idea for this book was first conceived, we wanted to write about a topic that was dear to both our hearts – dental nurses. We felt that while there were books that included dental nurses, there were few that majored on them. We were also conscious that the history of dental nurses was not always well appreciated, even by those within the profession. We are advocates for the value that dental nurses bring to the dental team and for their advancement to expand their role to undertake expanded duties.

It sometimes takes time before it’s possible to write about something and both Janine and Fiona have certainly served time within dentistry. From early on in their careers, they showed their support and encouragement for the advancement of dental nurses. Fiona began working as a dental nurse back in 1979, the same year that Janine entered University of Birmingham dental school. However, it was not until 2000 that their paths crossed in Nottingham. They were both working with National Vocational Qualifications, Fiona as an internal verifier and Janine as an external verifier.

Their history of working with dental nurse qualifications goes back further than that. Janine was an examiner for the NEBDN Dental Nurse qualification from 1986. She also introduced an evening class for trainee dental nurses to prepare for their examination. She taught on the course and guided about 50 dental nurses to successful completion. She continued her interest with dental nurse education when she was part of the team who developed and introduced the Foundation Degree for Dental Nursing at the University of Northampton. For about 20 years Janine worked clinically in community dentistry, treating special needs adults and also honing her general management skills. More recently, she launched her own consultancy and training business, Dentalia, providing postqualification training and education alongside coaching and mentoring.

Fiona was a practising dental nurse in the Lake District and moved to Manchester where she eventually pursued her dental nursing career and qualification. Having completed her qualification, she began training and mentoring student dental nurses as a senior dental nurse. One student led to another and education became a key component of her work. Over the years, she has taught many dental nurses across a number of different courses and levels of qualifications, at one point running a dental nurse training business. She too was an examiner for the NEBDN for both the primary qualification and the oral health examinationm and a tutor and internal verifier for the City and Guilds programme where she took pride in supporting other dental nurses. Fiona went on to develop the Foundation Degree at Chester University and co-lead on several of the modules. Since then, Fiona has taken on mentorship roles to support dental nurses in becoming tutors and has acted as a supervisor for a number of dental nurses undertaking higher education qualifications. In 2017 Fiona joined the University of Bangor and with colleagues developed the first Welsh dental nursing qualifications, at levels 3 and 4. More recently, she has been leading projects which help dental nurses make good career choices and has acted as a facilitator for international collaboration work. Fiona has been instrumental as a founder of the Society of British Dental Nurses and a co-founder of the International Federation of Dental Assistants and Dental Nurses, always placing dental nurses at the heart of everything she does.

Both Fiona and Janine have been educational associates for the General Dental Council for a number of years, a quality assurance role working with providers of dental education and training. We have worked both clinically and in national, strategic positions, allowing us to develop a broader overview of the profession. This has greatly enlarged our personal networks, which have proved extremely useful in gathering information for the book.

We have built upon these years of experience and expert knowledge in the writing of the book. We hope it will spark an interest within readers to look more deeply at the profession of dental nursing and the potential it offers as we move into the future. This is not just a look back on important history, it is also an analysis of what we have today, in the form of opportunities for career advancement. Even more than that, we have scanned the horizon to try to open a window on the future.

We have offered a great deal of food for thought throughout the book and have an eye on the future too – there are other actors who can help to enable dental nurses to reach new heights and be the professionals that they aspire to be. We still have a long way to go and perhaps this book simply scratches the surface. However, we hope that it will be a catalyst to stimulate debate, provoke high-level discussions and ultimately bring about transformation and change.

Table of contents :
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
About the authors
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Early history of dental nursing
The nineteenth century
The twentieth century
Role of the world wars
Women in employment – twentieth and twenty-first centuries
The twenty-first century
Chapter 3 The rise of the profession
North America
New Zealand
Canada
United Kingdom
Republic of Ireland
Europe
Australia
Worldwide
Chapter 4 Training and qualifications
Professional registration and dental nurse qualifications
Dental nursing qualifications
Additional duties
Impact of registration and education
Continuing professional development (CPD)
Reflective practitioner
Chapter 5 Career development
Clear understanding of self
Knowledge of the dental landscape
Conditions of success
Lead roles
Other opportunities
Examples of career pathways
Shape of your career
Developing a professional portfolio
Curriculum vitae design
Promoting yourself
Chapter 6 The future
The world outside dentistry
The future of dentistry
The profession of dental nursing
Individual dental nurses
Thoughts on future training
The advanced dental nurse practitioner
Twenty-first century skills
Examples to build your working portfolio and progress your career
Chapter 7 Discussion and conclusions
Appendix 1 Timeline of important events in dentistry in the UK
Index
EULA