Congratulations to one of SBDN Scotland Ambassadors who graduated with a BSc in Dental Nursing 12th November. Many of you know that the Society champions the professional vison of dental nursing and celebrates development, progression and successes across the profession. This comes in many guises, not just qualifications.
Nevertheless, this qualification clearly demonstrates that there are career opportunities out there and reinforces our messages that the common pathway has an important place, but dental nurses can excel without leaving the face of dental nursing or changing professional registration groups. The Society have long been advocates for excellence and makes it clear to all stakeholders that there is a need to rethink dental nurse education and questions why there is a desire to keep dental nursing within the vocational training box, rather than completing the work started in the 1993 Nuffield Report.
President Fiona Ellwood said
‘We celebrate successes of all dental nurses and in whatever guise it comes, no matter how big or small.’ She went on to say, ‘the profession has moved on and so has the skills required to be a dental nurse, we have come a long way from being the ‘dental house maiden‘, and deserve the professional recognition that goes with it.’
The Society believe additional duties do not fill the career gap and are not aligned to population need, it is time to sit up and work better and differently and we can start by rethinking the education pathway for dental nurses. Degrees may not be for everyone and indeed we know they are not from recent events, but what we do know is that we have untapped potential at our fingertips and an education system that lags behind who dental nurses are and could be.
Congratulations Nicola
If you are interested in this course please contact us and we can discuss this with you and connect you to the team in New College Larnarkshire