
Nurses are the most trusted profession (Robert Woods Johnson Foundation, 2014). So when nurses speak, the public listens. Individual nurses can do a great deal to increase public confidence in vaccines by rebutting all reports that continue to undermine public confidence in vaccines. Sensationalism sells. All of the children who are healthy because of safe and effective vaccines are not newsworthy, but some theory devised by an individual or organization that believes that vaccines are harmful is deemed appropriate for publication. While we all hope that published stories and reports will support science, that does not always occur. Reporters can insert just enough doubt in a story in order to be ‘fair and balanced’ so that the piece comes off giving credence to the anti-vaccine side. Fair and balanced does not mean 50/50 when it comes to vaccines. Anti-vaccine stories which are often published as pro ‘vaccine safety’ have been discredited therefore they do not deserve 50% of the space in the story. Nurses can help to stop this biased reporting by taking every opportunity to counter misinformation with evidence-based science that supports safe and effective vaccines. In journalism the final statements in a piece are what the public remembers. If a piece ends on a note that plants doubt in vaccines or give the anti-vaccine advocate the last word, nurses need to contact the source of the information and let the press know that nurses are watching and that scientifically unsupported comments about vaccines are not acceptable and that nurses expect this to change.

Refusal of immunizations by nurses is not a personal choice. A nurse’s personal choice does not just affect that individual nurse, but can also affect our vulnerable patients. There is clear data that indicates that health care personnel transmit influenza to their patients (Orr, 2012).
We also need to teach our patients to speak up! Recently, I was a patient at a hospital known for their excellent nursing care. The nurse who approached me wore a mask. I asked her why she was not vaccinated and she informed me that she did not believe in influenza shots and her personal choice was to not accept vaccination. I told the nurse that her personal choice affected me, her patient, and I had made a personal choice to be vaccinated and expected the nurse who cared for me to do the same. I informed her that at best the mask only protected both of us for some 20 minutes. I requested another nurse, and the new one needed to be immunized. After some resistance on the part of the masked nurse, I was assigned to a new vaccinated nurse. I was advocating to protect every other patient who came in contact with this nurse and not just myself.
No other profession advocates for patients more than nurses, so let us do what we do best and stand up and speak out at every opportunity to correct all of the misinformation that is out there no matter where we find it.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2012). MMWR. Influenza Vaccination Coverage Among Health-Care Personnel — 2011–12 Influenza Season, United States
September 28, 2012 / 61(38);753-757. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6138a1.htm
DeStefano F, Price CS, Weintraub ES. Journal of Pediatrics. (2013). Evaluation of immunization rates and safety among children with inborn errors of metabolism http://jpeds.com/webfiles/images/journals/ympd/JPEDSDeStefano.pdf
Klein N, et al., (2011). Measles-Containing Vaccines and Febrile Seizures in Children Age 4 to 6 Years. Pediatrics; 129(5): 809-14.
Orr, P. (2000). Influenza vaccination for health care workers: A duty of care. Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases. Sep-Oct; 11(5): 225–226.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. (2014). Nurses continue to top public trust survey. org/ewww.rwjfn/blogs/human-capital-blog/2014/01/nurses_continue_tot.html
Mary Beth Koslap-Petraco, DNP, PNP-BC, CPNP, FAANP, Member of Nurses Who Vaccinate
August is National Immunization Awareness Month (#NIAM14). The purpose of this observance is to highlight the importance of immunizations, one of the top 10 public health accomplishments of the 20th
Century, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC). The goals throughout the month highlight the importance of immunizations for a different population each week of the month:
• Week 1: A Healthy Start: (babies from birth to age 2 and pregnant women)
• Week 2: Back to School (children, pre-teens and teens to age18)
• Week 3: Off to the Future (young adults age 19-26)
• Week 4: Not Just for Kids: (adults age 26+)
For more information, see: http://www.nphic.org/niam
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