Do dental nurses and trainee dental nurses suffer from job-related stress and could mentorship help them to cope with that stress?

Background Stress in dentistry is widely researched and the evidence is that it is a stressful profession. Research has mainly focused on dentists and oftentimes the rest of the team has not been considered. Working in dentistry relies on teamwork and the multidisciplinary team; therefore, it is of paramount importance that all members of the team are researched.Aim To investigate current perceptions of stress and its triggers in dental nurses (DNs) (including trainee dental nurse [TDNs]) and explore if mentoring could help.Methodology Case study design with a phenomenological aspect. Perceptions of DNs/TDNs around stress in dentistry and its triggers and perceptions of mentoring were collected using on online questionnaire. The questionnaire was posted on Facebook using closed professional groups. The questionnaire invited interested participants to opt-in to take part in semi-structured interviews to gather more detailed insights into stress in dentistry relating to their own experiences, triggers and coping mechanisms. The semi-structured interviews were conducted and recorded on Microsoft Teams. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis (RTA).Results In total, 61 DNs/TDNs with various amounts of professional experience, backgrounds and working environments completed the questionnaire, and five chose to take part in semi-structured interviews. In answering the questionnaire, all participants reported that working in dentistry is stressful, where 92% said that they are suffering or have suffered from burnout and 95% thought that having a mentor would be beneficial. The analysis of the semi-structured interviews resulted in six themes: nature of the problem - emotions, team, burnout and money; triggers - regulation/complaints, patients, time and communication; coping mechanisms - time off, reducing hours and talking; support - peers, management and friends; self-doubt - training, confidence and imposter syndrome; and mentoring - seen as a positive, unknown and mentees choice of mentor.Conclusions DNs/TDNs face job-related stress. Since they are hired members of the team, they frequently have no influence over their working environment, which fosters multiple triggers of stress. Mentoring could be a support system and coping technique. Implementation of mentorship in the early phases of a DN's/TDN's training/career may assist to lessen the negative effects of stress, such as burnout, and thus lower the number of registered employees quitting the field.