Response on Vaccination

Julie,

Thank you for sharing your post. Throughout the 20^th century, nurses in the Eastern side of the US started staffing immunization clinics. These led to many lives being saved as people were vaccinated against diseases such as TB and polio. In 1918 many people’s lives were saved from vaccination against the influenza outbreak and in 2009 from the H1N epidemic (Deering, 2021). As the country suffers from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is clear that the largest disease outbreak of contagious diseases occurs before the development of a vaccine. Deering (2021) adds that when the vaccine rates are low, the outbreaks return. An example is the resurgence of measles in 1989-1991 in the US, where only 50% of the children had been vaccinated. 90% of the women failed to be vaccinated, while 123 people died. In 2008, the measles outbreak re-emerged, with 90% of the cases reported were those who had skipped vaccination or whose immunization status was unknown.

Nurse Practitioners, as you have mentioned, play a significant role in the prevention of diseases through education of patients on the need for vaccination and also in administering vaccinations to patients. Balestra (2016) notes that NPs offer patients evidence-based information on the safety of vaccines, the possible side effects, and in some countries, all vaccinations are administered by nurses. It is often a major struggle that nurses face in trying to convince patients and parents to get vaccinated or have their children vaccinated.  When people do not see others getting sick from the disease, they believe that they are not in any danger of infection. NPs must advise that remaining unvaccinated can affect the patient and kin. In rural areas, NPs often fill the gap between physicians and patients, and hence it means that the communities seek advice from NPs regarding vaccinations. Additionally, school nurses also play a significant role in giving advice to parents and students on the requirements of vaccines.

References

Balestra, M. (2016). The antivaccine movement: Legal implications for nurse practitioners. The Nurse Practitioner, 41(11), 12-14.

Deering, M (2021, March 1^st). 10 Facts About Vaccinations and the Role of Nurses. Nurse Journal. https://nursejournal.org/articles/immunization-facts-nurses/#:~:text=Nurses%2C%20especially%20registered%20nurses%20(RNs,countries%2C%20nurses%20administer%20all%20vaccinations.

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Response on Vaccination

Evaluating the issues of people being hesitant to receive vaccines can be viewed from multiple angles, many of which bring the concept of balance between personal liberty choices of wanting to vaccinate or not vaccinate and violating other people’s public health. As society is using electronics to find information about vaccines with pros/cons, parents are also looking for control over their children’s health. Ideally, parents would like to be armed with accurate scientific information so that they can objectively weigh the benefits and risks of vaccination and make informed decisions about immunizing their children (Glanz et al., 2015).

It can also be noted that to achieve high immunization in society and prevent an outbreak of an illness such as Measles, 95% of the population needs to be vaccinated. Therefore, the NP can assist families and patients in general in understanding the importance of vaccinations. And providing them with evidence-based, factual literature that they are able to read. And being educated to provide the families and patients with support is a key to nursing.

Glanz, J. M., Kraus, C. R., & Daley, M. F. (2015). Addressing Parental Vaccine Concerns: Engagement, Balance, and Timing. PLoS biology, 13(8), e1002227. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002227