Role of the nurse in addressing vaccine hesitancy and misinformation on social media

How Psychological Variables Maybe Correlated with Willingness to Get COVID-19 Vaccine: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study of Polish Novice Nurses

INTRODUCTION

Nurses became the largest medical group exposed to direct contact with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In this study, we aimed to assess the readiness and motivation for vaccination, as well as the use of sources of information and attitudes toward vaccination depending on the psychological profile.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A cross-sectional online survey study was conducted. The study included 145 novice nurses from 8 medical universities who completed 3-year undergraduate studies. Women constituted 97.2% of the respondents (N = 141). The Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item Scale, General Self-Efficacy Scale, Brief Resilient Coping Scale, and an original questionnaire were used. Variables were analyzed with descriptive statistics methods. A p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant.

RESULTS

Among the participants, 73.1% had already been vaccinated against COVID-19 (N = 106). The participants were divided into two groups: G1 (N = 98), characterized by a lower level of anxiety with higher self-efficacy and resilient coping, and G2 (N = 47), with a higher level of anxiety with poorer self-efficacy and resilient coping. The analysis of the potential correlation of psychological pattern with the decision to vaccinate was not statistically significant (p = 0.166).

CONCLUSION

Psychological variables may be correlating with motivation, attitudes toward vaccination, and the choice of reliable sources of information about vaccination. Our study demonstrates the key role of two psychological variables, self-efficacy and resilient coping, in this context.

Older people's experience of COVID-19 restrictions on vaccine hesitancy: A longitudinal phenomenological study to support nurse-patient vaccination conversations

AIMS

To explore how older people's experiences of COVID-19 restrictions influenced their decision to receive a vaccine and to support nurse-patient vaccination conversations.

DESIGN

A longitudinal hermeneutic phenomenological study. The application of the COREQ checklist informed the reporting of this study.

METHODS

Data were collected through semi-structured telephone interviews with older people (age ≥70) during two national restrictions implemented in England due to COVID-19. Phase one of interviews occurred between April and July 2020 (six interviews), and phase two of interviews between January and April 2021 (four interviews). Data analysis was performed through content analysis.

RESULTS

Thirteen older people (mean age 78) worked through six stages about their thoughts and beliefs about receiving a vaccine, which encompassed four of the five elements of the 5C model of vaccine hesitancy, confidence, convenience, calculation, collective, but not complacency. Stages included 'our only hope is a vaccine'; 'understanding and acceptance of an effective vaccine'; 'social responsibility to protect others'; 'organized but left with unanswered questions'; 'need to feel secure' and finally 'vaccination alone is not enough'.

CONCLUSION

The experience of COVID-19 restrictions by older people informed their approach of engaging with scientific information to inform their decisions to be vaccinated but also developed their sense of collective responsibility to younger generations and those at risk, which informed their adherence to restrictions and the vaccination programme.

IMPACT

Nurses are optimally placed to support older people to implement and adhere to national government restrictions as appropriate and prevent obsessive routines, and support discussions and the provision of scientific information on COVID-19 vaccinations, whilst being inclusive of older peoples' sense of collective responsibility.