Authority, Influence and Scope

Authority, Influence and Scope supports meeting P 2.1. For dental nurses, this means recognising what you can do within your role, supporting patients and colleagues, and escalating or handing over when an issue is outside your scope.

CQC's well-led dental guidance separates leadership, management and governance: leaders set the culture and encourage speaking up, while management ensures systems and checks make care reliable. The NHS Healthcare Leadership Model describes leadership as behaviour that can be shown at any level, not only by people with a managerial title.

What to notice in practice

• Formal authority: know which actions you may take, which require escalation and who is responsible for decisions.
• Informal influence: listen to patients and colleagues, then hand over or escalate clearly when needed.
• Scope boundaries: be clear about what falls within your role and what must be referred to others.
• Delegation: state roles, instructions and next steps so colleagues can act safely.
• Accountability: understand who is accountable and when you must escalate or record concerns.

Practically, management organises reliable systems and processes; leadership supports others to act safely, raise concerns and keep patients central under pressure.

Good practice is visible and practical: prepare sessions properly, listen carefully, check understanding, hand over clearly, and raise recurring problems as learning issues rather than relying on informal fixes.

Research and system context

Management and leadership are distinct but connected: safe dental teams need reliable systems and people who influence safer behaviour.