Welcome

Effective practice meetings help dental teams turn observations into safer, clearer and better organised care. For dental nurses, meetings are more than administrative time: they are how you raise patient-safety concerns, improve workflow, agree team standards, learn from incidents, and make sure decisions are acted on.

This course is written for dental nurses working in UK dental settings. It suits those who contribute to meetings, prepare agenda items, take minutes, chair parts of meetings, or work as senior dental nurses or practice managers. Many dental nurses already carry leadership responsibilities in practice; this course treats meeting skills as part of professional practice.

Why This Course Matters

• Meetings affect patients: decisions about IPC, records, aftercare, complaints, medical emergencies, referrals and access are often made or resolved in practice meetings.
• Dental nurses see patterns: you may spot recurring problems before they appear in an audit or complaint.
• Good chairing matters: a well-run meeting gives quieter voices space and keeps discussion focused on outcomes.
• Follow-up is essential: an effective meeting ends with clear decisions, named owners and review dates.

How This Course Will Help You

By the end of the course you should be able to prepare concise agenda items, contribute with confidence, protect confidentiality, speak up constructively, chair meetings fairly where required, and ensure agreed actions lead to improvements.

A Simple Learner Spine

• Notice: identify recurring issues that affect patients, colleagues or safe systems.
• Prepare: bring facts, examples and a clear question or suggested action.
• Contribute: speak plainly and keep patient safety central to the point you make.
• Chair: when you lead, provide structure, ensure fairness and drive decisions to action.
• Follow up: check that agreed actions are recorded, assigned and reviewed.