Collaboration with VWCC Dental Hygiene Students

We are excited to celebrate the successful completion of our pilot collaboration between Virginia Western Community College (VWCC) Dental Hygiene students and Carilion Clinic!

Through this pilot, VWCC dental hygiene students provided thoughtful and impactful education at Nursing Ancillary Academy (NAA), focused on oral care practices and the benefits of consistently completing oral care. This partnership supported skill-building for learners while strengthening awareness of how oral hygiene directly contributes to overall patient health and quality outcomes.

Yesterday marked an important milestone as we completed rounding on the units alongside the dental hygiene students, engaging with new Patient Care Technicians (PCTs) to gather feedback and reflect on the value of the pilot. These conversations confirmed that the experience was beneficial, informative, and well received—highlighting the real-world impact of interdisciplinary collaboration.

This work would not have been possible without the dedication and partnership of many teams. We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to all departments and programs involved:

• Speech Language Pathologist
• Pulmonary Outcomes Chart Teams (POCT) Chair and Co-Chairs (Nursing Quality, CAPS, and Infection Prevention)
• Nursing Quality
• Infection Prevention
• Carilion Dental Clinic
• Education & Organizational Development (E&OD)
• Student Affairs
• VWCC Dental Hygiene Program

Thank you all for your commitment to education, quality improvement, and teamwork. This pilot exemplifies how collaboration across disciplines and organizations can enhance learning, improve practice, and support excellent patient care.

We look forward to building on this success and exploring future opportunities together! 👏🦷