Effects of mandatory continuing education related to infection control on the infection control practices of dental hygienists

Noel Kelsch; Cheryl A Davis; Gwen Essex; Lory Laughter; Dorothy J Rowe

doi:10.1016/j.ajic.2017.02.018

Effects of mandatory continuing education related to infection control on the infection control practices of dental hygienists

Am J Infect Control. 2017 Aug 1;45(8):926-928. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2017.02.018. Epub 2017 Mar 18.

Authors

Noel Kelsch¹, Cheryl A Davis², Gwen Essex³, Lory Laughter², Dorothy J Rowe⁴

Affiliations

¹ Dental Hygiene Program, University of California, San Francisco, CA.
² Department of Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA.
³ Department of Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA; Virtual Dental Home Clinics, University of the Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry, San Francisco, CA.
⁴ Department of Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA. Electronic address: Dorothy.rowe@ucsf.edu.

PMID: 28318646
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajic.2017.02.018

Abstract

The infection control (IC) practices of dental hygienists, who were practicing in states with and without mandatory continuing education (CE) related to IC, were compared using a nationwide survey approach. The percentages of respondents from states with mandated IC CE, who reported compliance with 8 practices described in the current IC guidelines and acquiring more CE units and taking more recent IC CE, were greater (P < .005) than the percentages of respondents from states without the requirement.

Keywords: Continuing education; Dental hygienists; Infection control; Infection control guidelines; Infection control practices.

MeSH terms

Cross-Sectional Studies
Data Collection
Dental Hygienists / education*
Education, Continuing / standards*
Humans
Infection Control / methods*
Internet
Surveys and Questionnaires