Dental Sedation Nursing
Conscious Sedation is a vital part of modern dentistry enabling a huge number of patients with anxieties and phobias to access care they otherwise could not tolerate. In the UK this involves the administration of sedative drugs which patients may take orally, inhale or have injected. As well as removing anxiety these drugs can have many significant side effects which the dental team must be able to recognise and manage in a calm and effective way.
Options
All our dental sedation qualifications will require you to achieve a balanced mixture of knowledge and practical skills, as well as demonstrating an appropriate professional attitude. To ensure our dental sedation qualifications reflect the areas of practice the dental nurse works in, we offer the following three options:
- Certificate in Dental Sedation Nursing
- Award in Inhalation Sedation Dental Nursing
- Award in Intravenous Sedation Dental Nursing
All three qualifications are at the same level. The titles ‘Award’ and ‘Certificate’ indicate the difference in the number of learning hours required to complete each qualification.
Record of Competence
You will be required to complete a work-based Record of Competence (RoC). The requirements for this will vary depending on which qualification you are registered for. There are four sections to the RoC:
- Practical Competence Assessment Sheets (PCAS)
- Case studies
- Directly Observed Clinical Skills (DOCS) Assessments
- Supplementary outcomes
Examination
This is a 90-minute written examination composed of two sections:
- Part A – 45 multiple choice questions (MCQ)
- Part B – 30 extended matching questions (EMQ)
Examinations are held twice a year in March and September.
Award of qualification
In order to be awarded this qualification, you must:
- Complete and satisfy the requirements of the RoC
- Pass the examination