NIP-IT (Nursing Initiative Promoting Immunization Training): What Nurse Educators and Clinicians Tell Us about Teaching Immunizations

Background: Immunization recommendations by Centers for Disease Control and Healthy People 2010 are not being met. Nurses play a vital role in meeting these goals, however, many barriers to immunization exist for both the public and nurses. Barriers include misinformation, lack of knowledge, and negative attitudes which can detrimentally influence patients’ decisions to vaccinate. Nursing students need to learn immunization content, understand barriers to immunization, and acquire psychomotor and interpersonal skills related to immunization. NIP-IT, an evidence-based online curriculum about immunizations, will provide nursing faculty, clinicians, and nursing students relevant information about immunizations. Because the program will be web-based, the materials can be immediately updated as new developments in immunizations occur. Using NIP-IT will save faculty time, provide accessible immunization curriculum, and assure that nursing students consistently receive the most up-to-date and evidence-based practices available.

Setting: Biennial Convention of Sigma Theta Tau International, Nursing’s Honor Society in Indianapolis in 2009.

Population: 32 nurse educators and clinicians involved with immunizations across the U.S.  and Canada.

Project Description: Five focus groups were conducted with nurse educators and clinicians and were asked to provide information about what is currently taught regarding immunizations. Conducting focus groups with nurses from across the nation and Canada as part of a needs assessment provided a more accurate picture of current immunization teaching practices as well as current needs.

Results/Lessons Learned: Themes related to teaching immunizations emerged from focus group transcripts: Content Fragmentation; Teaching Barriers; Confusing Content; Current Resources; and NIP-IT Acceptance. Valuable information from focus groups builds a foundation which further develops NIP-IT and meets needs of nurse educators, clinicians, and nursing students.