Making extended duties a reality

The aim of the session was to explain what dental nurses and their practices need to do to ensure that extended duties become a reality whilst adhering to current regulations. The vision for the future is a supportive environment in which an individual could begin their career as a dental nurse and progress to whichever role within the dental profession they aspire to. For this to be a possibility, training and development pathways need to keep pace with nurses' scope of practice, something that both Glenys and Alison, as affiliates of Dawood and Tanner Academy, advocate strongly. Glenys aimed to address the regulatory issues surrounding extended duties, its governance and the need for clarity in communication and excellent practical skills. She reminded delegates that registered dental nurses must meet the professional standards of conduct, performance and ethics. There are encouraging examples of extended duties already taking place in an array of practices; a quick survey of the delegates in the room revealed that amongst them were nurses already performing radiography, fluoride varnishing, impression taking and saliva testing.