Dental nurses rose to the challenge of COVID-19 with resilience, confidence and passion for their role

The COVID-19 pandemic had a global impact on people's health and wellbeing.¹ The highly infectious nature of the virus and the associated morbidity and mortality resulted in significantly elevated levels of stress and anxiety amongst dental healthcare workers.^2,3 The COVID-19 era created a pivotal transformational period for dental care from a number of perspectives as the pandemic altered routine activities. The United Kingdom Government halted routine dental care provision from March to June 2020, with many dental practices acting only as urgent dental care hubs, and others ceased activities for an unforeseeable period. The initial lockdown restrictions meant that primary care dental nurses (DN) were either furloughed or worked altered hours. Government guidance recommended more robust Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) procedures with the use of enhanced Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and the mandatory use of various types of respirators for Aerosol Generating Procedures (AGP). Moreover, the oral environment was recognised as a high-risk route for the transmission of COVID-19 and the necessary close proximity to patients and colleagues during dental AGPs increased the risk of transmitting the virus.⁴

DNs' professional practice, particularly ‘airborne precautions', necessitated assiduous observance of IPCs during any given AGP. The new IPC guidelines introduced numerous additional procedures to consider when assisting in AGPs, including ‘environmental' and ‘procedural' risk mitigation measures.^5,6 This included ventilation, donning and doffing PPE and strategies of ‘environmental' risk mitigation measures.⁷ These measures had to be practical, evidence-based, equitable, sustainable, and effective to protect both individuals and the environment.⁷ Furthermore, it has been reported that the updated IPC guidelines raised various concerns amongst DNs including the ways to access them, barriers and facilitators to adherence levels and the perceived support from senior management, the Government and the National Health Service (NHS).⁸

Thus, this study aimed to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on DNs' professional practice as well as any financial, physical and psychological concerns. Despite the challenges of DNs' roles being discussed widely on social media platforms, very little has been written in the literature. This study explored DNs' experiences of working during the phased return to work in June 2020.