Bringing Immunity to Every Community: Innovation In Nurse Competence On Immunization

Background:  As part of a CDC cooperative agreement with the American Nurses Association (ANA), a ninety minute immunization webcast targeted at nurses was developed with Every Child By Two.  Launched December 8, 2010, the webcast is part of the ANA’s Bringing Immunity to Every Community initiative, which has the goal of increasing nurses’ competency, action, and advocacy in immunization.

Objectives:   

•  Discuss scientific findings regarding the safety of vaccines.
• Outline systems in place to ensure ongoing safety of vaccines and adverse event reporting requirements.
• Identify commonly expressed concerns over vaccine safety and appropriate responses to alleviate parental reluctance.
• Discuss methods to eliminate spread of vaccine-preventable diseases including vaccination of adults and healthcare workers.

Methods:  A free continuing education online webcast taught by a nurse faculty. It has six didactic sessions and six didactic session quiz questions.  There are six video case studies that illustrate the learned skill or topic in a role play scenario.

Results:  After 12 months, the module had 5126 participants.   Nearly 13% of all participants were non-healthcare professionals, plausibly nursing students.  In the evaluation (n=3455) 88% gained a skill or strategy to apply in their work; 85% gained new knowledge; and 92% said the activity would help improve their practice. At least eight nursing programs have indicated the webcast is a course requirement.  82% reported getting an influenza vaccination in the past year.

Conclusions:  The innovative format of video case studies is an effective educational tool when teaching communication skills. Nurse faculty creates a connection with a nurse audience.  It is a motivational tool for vaccination.  This module is a tool for nursing instructors teaching at ADN and BSN nursing programs, many of which lack resources and time to develop original, short teaching tools.