Prevention Versus Intervention

Prevention Versus Intervention relates to P 3.7. For dental nurses this means recognising where prevention is appropriate, supporting safe care, and staying within professional scope.

Ethical tensions occur when patient need, limited appointments, costs, prevention priorities, contracts and professional duties conflict. These pressures exist but do not remove the need for fairness, transparent communication and patient-centred decisions.

What to notice in practice

• Short-term fixes: identify what the patient or colleague needs next, then hand over or escalate clearly.
• Long-term prevention: give advice that is evidence-based, consistent and realistic for the patient.
• Patient compliance: identify what the patient or colleague needs next, then hand over or escalate clearly.
• Risk: identify what the patient or colleague needs next, then hand over or escalate clearly.
• Follow-up: identify what the patient or colleague needs next, then hand over or escalate clearly.

Dental nurses often witness the human effects of system pressure: a patient in pain who feels rejected, a colleague under heavy workload, a missed prevention opportunity, or a vulnerable patient unable to use the routes provided.

Practical good practice looks like preparing for appointments, listening carefully, checking understanding, handing over clearly, and raising recurring problems so they are addressed at practice level.

Research and system context

Ethical practice means keeping patient interests, fairness and honesty visible even when systems are under pressure.