Encourage patients to roll up their sleeves for influenza vaccination!

Nursing students' perceptions and beliefs about immunizations: A descriptive study

BACKGROUND

Nurses are expected and trusted to provide education on immunizations. Education and advocacy for immunizations can be enhanced by understanding the perceptions and beliefs about immunizations as students are still immersed in their education.

OBJECTIVE

To explore nursing students' perceptions and beliefs about immunizations and the diseases they are aimed to prevent.

METHODOLOGY

A quantitative, descriptive design with a convenience sample of bachelorette nursing students at a university in the Midwest United States and who met criteria resulted in (n = 74). Data was collected via an electronic survey.

RESULTS

Nursing students had a decreased perception of disease severity, likelihood of infection without immunization, and concern of side effects compared to previous research involving parents. In addition, students have poor confidence in the ability to educate their clients about immunizations.

CONCLUSION

These results contribute to the known perceptions and beliefs of nursing students regarding immunizations and identified areas for improvement in nursing education.

Dissemination and implementation of the ICAMP

The current rate of immunizations for older adults does not meet the immunization goals for Healthy People 2020. Using a Social Ecological Model and Social Cognitive Theory, the purpose of this study was to disseminate and implement the Immunization Champions, Advocates and Mentors Program (ICAMP) into a variety of health care settings. This study used a single group pre-/post-test design. Champions were recruited nationally. Five geographically diverse face-to-face meetings were held to train health care providers to be ICAMP immunization champions. Dissemination and implementation of ICAMP was evaluated using the Reach, Efficacy/Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM) model. Participants were surveyed at baseline for descriptive information and were asked to gather immunization rates for at least one particular vaccine and provide follow-up data on progress toward goal achievement. A total of 212 champions from 82 settings participated in ICAMP. The majority were nurses (111/212, 52%). With regard to reach, we obtained 212 applications from individuals in a variety of settings interested in becoming champions. With regard to effectiveness, the majority of the champions (n = 178/212, 84%) used ICAMP material, 88% (n = 186/212) made changes related to immunization processes within their setting, and all reported that immunization practices improved. The majority used the toolkit materials up through 60 days following ICAMP. Sustained use of materials after the 60-day follow-up was less evident. ICAMP was implemented as intended and was effective in changing processes around immunizations. Ongoing work is needed to determine whether ICAMP improves immunization rates.