Jennifer Moseley, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC

VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA

NOVA Chapter 226

According to the Centers for Disease Control (2021), in the United States, there were 35,171,679 cases and 611,791 deaths from COVID-19 in the last 30 days. Healthcare workers account for 520,500 of these cases and 1,676 deaths. A poll conducted in March by Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) and the Washington Post (2021) found that 48% of healthcare workers had not yet been vaccinated, which included 18% who did not plan on getting vaccinated. Vaccine hesitancy is defined by the World Health Organization (2021) as “the reluctance or refusal to vaccinate despite the availability of vaccines”. Vaccine hesitancy was defined as a top ten threat to global health in 2019 by the World Health Organization. Although the American Medical Association and the American Nurses Association support mandated COVID-19 vaccinations for healthcare professionals, there continues to be vaccine hesitant healthcare workers. We as nurses have an ethical obligation to understand this hesitancy and encourage vaccination among our fellow healthcare workers.

A study done among medical students found that among those hesitant to take the vaccine, there were concerns regarding personal safety, vaccine efficacy, the politicization and trust in the organizations approving the vaccination, as well as the perceived rushed development or implementation of the vaccine (Lucia et al., 2020). Motivational interviewing is a practice that can be used to increase acceptance of vaccines and reduce vaccine hesitancy (Gagneur, 2020). Motivational interviewing involves empathetic listening, providing data in an honest and factual way, and empowering patients (Hall et al., 2012). This can be easily taught to nurses and can be used to help increase the rate of vaccine acceptance. 

Ways to combat vaccine hesitancy exist and must be utilized to increase the number of vaccinated healthcare workers. Vaccine mandates alone cannot force healthcare workers to become vaccinated, as there are always exemptions that can be applied for. We as nurses have an ethical obligation to not only get vaccinated, but to help combat vaccine hesitancy and improve the health of our fellow healthcare workers and the community at large.  

References

American Medical Association. (2021). AMA in support of COVID-19 vaccine mandates for health care workers.

American Nurses Association. (2021). ANA Supports Mandated COVID-19 Vaccinations for Nurses and All Health Care Professionals. 

Gagneur, A. (2020). Motivational interviewing: A powerful tool to address vaccine hesitancy. Can Commun Dis Rep, 46(4).

Hall, K., Gibbie, T., & Lubman, D. (2012). Motivational interviewing techniques. Retrieved 8-3 from 

Kaiser Family Foundation. (2021). KFF/Post Survey of Frontline Health Care Workers Finds Nearly Half Remain Unvaccinated. 

Lucia, V. C., Kelekar, A., & Afonso, N. M. (2020). COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among medical students. J Public Health, fdaa230.

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (2021).COVID Data Tracker.

Retrieved 8-4 from World Health Organization. (2021). Ten threats to global health in 2019.