Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Nursing Staff Regarding Oral Health and Oral Care for Mentally Challenged Patients in the Indonesian National Mental Health Hospital

Nurses play an important role in improving dental and oral health in hospitalized mentally challenged patients, especially in terms of preventive measures and early detection efforts. To analyze the association between sociodemographic features of nurses and their knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding the oral health of inpatients at the National Mental Health Hospital. This cross-sectional study was conducted by filling out questionnaires. Comparisons between quantitative data were performed using the Mann–Whitney and Kruskall–Wallis tests, while correlations were assessed using the Spearman test. Of the 211 responders, 82.5% had more than ten years of work experience, while 79.6% had at least Diploma nursing qualifications. The mean age was 39.95 ± 6.96 years, and the majority of respondents were women. The comparative test showed differences between nurses’ knowledge based on sex (p = 0.001), and there were differences between respondents’ practices based on nurses’ highest level of education (p = 0.015), while there were no differences in attitudes based on sociodemographic characteristics (p?> 0.05). There was no statistically significant association between knowledge and attitudes and no relationship between knowledge and practice (p?> 0.05); however, there was a significant association between the attitudes and practices of nurses regarding dental and oral health (p = 0.000). Not all nurses practice oral health care consistently, and their methods vary. Age and level of education associated with knowledge and practice of oral health care. There was a significant association between the attitudes and practices of nurses regarding oral health in the psychiatric inpatient room at the study site.