Manager and Practice Responsibilities

Manager and Practice Responsibilities supports meeting I 2.8. For dental nurses, this means the practice provides clear routes for raising concerns, maintains confidentiality, reviews concerns promptly, and prevents retaliation.

Team working is part of clinical safety: staff know their roles, respect scope of practice, communicate clearly and protect anyone who raises a concern.

These duties come up in everyday moments: a patient who seems unsure, a receptionist asking for direction, a dentist working quickly, a trainee needing feedback, a message transfer, a handover, or a colleague worried about speaking up. Interpersonal skill is responding with care, clarity and professional judgement.

Practical markers

• Notice: what the patient, colleague, situation or system is communicating.
• Choose: a communication method, team route or escalation step that fits the context.
• Respect: role boundaries, confidentiality, dignity, cultural needs and emotional impact.
• Check: understanding, responsibility, handover and whether the next person has the information they need.
• Follow up: through records, feedback, supervision, team discussion or concern-raising where needed.

Useful wording can be straightforward: "Can we pause and check whose role this is, so the patient gets the right support?" It is calm, professional and gives a clear reason to pause, clarify or escalate.

SPF behaviour links

Ensuring people who raise concerns are protected from discrimination or other detrimental effects helps dental nurses protect patient dignity, team trust and safe care.