Concerns about my new practice.

Thank you for your reply, that’s reassuring to know about the notes!

It was more the OPG’s I was concerned about. I havnt been asked to do any intra oral X-rays.

Thank you for responding! X

Hey

If you don't have a radiography qualification then you shouldn't be taking rads, i know it is acceptable to press the button for the clinician if supervised and told when to, but you should not be placing the film in the mouth and taking the x-ray with no qualification.

The notes are ultimately the responsibility of the clinician, but i always write all the notes i can in as much detail as i can and they should be checked by the dentist or hygiene/therapist before being saved and charged through. if the notes are written wrong it will not come back on the nurse.

Most places do not use paper notes at all anymore. Most if not all paperwork that the patient has is scanned onto the notes on the computer and the paper work shredded.

with regards to the impression taking, is the practitioner who is signing you off qualified to take impressions? are you sure you've not been enrolled on a course? as you do usually have to take 10 sets of impressions for the course?

hope this helps? have you spoken to the practice about your concerns? x

I dont do any notes for the dentist, from training i got told not to do so in case any information was ever missed off and was needed for future reference and I think most places now that are computer based do the same with medical histories or scan them on to the system they use. The impression taking I would og thought you needed to do the course properly?

I have just started at a new practice and I am becoming quite concerned about a few things.

1. Note taking- The nurses are expected to write the notes and the dentist doesn't seem to have any interest in checking and signing them off. I have looked at previous notes written and they seem very basic to what I am used to.

2. X rays- My practice manager who is also a hygienist seems to think it is fine for nurses (who DO NOT have the radiography qualification) to take OPG's and grade the x rays. I know this isn't right.

3. Medical History- Once they have taken a written MH they type it into the computer and then shred the hard copy!! Surely they should be keeping this?! I have only been there a week but have not seen any paper record cards yet- everything is done on computer.

4. Impression taking- They want to train me in house for this, i.e. teach me and sign me off with 10 impressions under the supervision of the hygienist. Is this acceptable or do I need to do an actual course?

I would be interested to hear anyones thoughts but also is the GDC my best place to seek advice?
Thank you in advance.