Aims: To investigate nurses' self-efficacy and attitudes of providing oral care in geriatric care facilities (GCFs) and compare differences between individuals, facilities and countries.
Design: A cross-sectional and multicentre study.
Methods: Data were collected from 852 nurses in 42 GCFs using two scales, "Self-Efficacy for Providing Mouth Care" (SE-PMC) and "Attitudes for Providing Mouth Care" (A-PMC), and analysed using t-test and ANOVA.
Results: Totally 852 nurses (844 females, 99%) participated in this study with an effective response rate of 85.2%. Scores of SE-PMC and A-PMC of nurses varied significantly among GCFs with different sizes, types and years of establishment and differentiated among staff about the length of employment (p < .05). Nurses (N = 434) in North Carolina scored higher than nurses in Shanghai both in SE-PMC and A-PMC (p < .05). Establishment and implementation of Oral health promotion programmes were desired based on characteristics of different institutions and nurses' clinical ladder.
Keywords: a cross-sectional study; attitude; geriatric care facilities; oral health; self-efficacy.
© 2022 The Authors. Nursing Open published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.