Survey about Role of Nurses In Getting Immunized

Background: Online program developed targeting nursing students nationwide (Nursing Initiative Promoting Immunization Training (NIP-IT.org)). Voluntary poll with four questions about nurses’ immunizations was developed.  

Objectives: Understanding how users of NIP-IT.org view nurses’ role in getting immunizations is important and can help determine future learning needs.

Methods: NIP-IT.org users are required to give basic demographic information.  A limitation to this poll is that it was voluntary with about 630 users out of 10,000 users answering these questions. The poll took place in the middle of module four in NIP-IT.org.  Poll included four questions: 1) Which statement best describes your beliefs related to the nurse's professional responsibility to keep current with immunizations?, 2) Should a nurse has a moral/ethical responsibility to keep current with seasonal flu vaccine?, 3) What is your intent to keep current with vaccination, especially annual flu vaccine, as a nurse?, and 4) Should mandatory annual vaccination of nurses for seasonal flu should be implemented to protect patient safety?

Results: Those taking this poll think that nurses should keep their immunizations current (91% (n=577) and “strongly agree” (64%, (n=404) or “agree” (31%, (n=194) that it is the nurse’s moral/ethical responsibility to keep current with seasonal flu vaccine. When asked their own intent to keep current with immunizations, 88% (n=560) answered that they intended to keep current.  Most also agreed that nurses should have mandatory annual vaccination (“Strongly agree” was 57% (n=361) and “Agree” was 31% (n=193)).

Conclusions: These results indicate that those answering this poll feel nurses have a responsibility to keep current with vaccines, as well as a moral/ethical responsibility to do so and intend to keep current themselves. Most are positively in favor of a mandatory annual vaccination for nurses.  It is possible that these responses may have been influenced by the material presented to them in NIP-IT.org.