In Their Own Words: Resources Needed by School Nurses to Facilitate Student Immunization Compliance

Abstract

BACKGROUND All 50 states have school‐entry immunization requirements, and many also allow exemptions based on medical and non‐medical reasons. School nurses are responsible for managing student immunization compliance based on state policies, but lack standardized resources and guidance. METHODS Pennsylvania school nurses (N = 21) participated in semi‐structured interviews regarding their strategies for communication and management of student immunization information, along with resources needed for practice improvement. Data were analyzed using descriptive content analysis. RESULTS Nurses reported similarities in timelines used for communication of immunization requirements, but differences in mechanisms used to secure and manage immunization records. Nurses reported a need for clarity regarding exclusions and exemption policy implementation and requested standardized resources and guidance for navigating immunization compliance. CONCLUSIONS A need exists for standardized processes that support immunization compliance. Furthermore, nurses highlighted a need for additional training and enhanced networks to develop creative strategies for promoting immunization uptake among families.

Barriers in the School-Based Pan-Gender HPV Vaccination Program in Sweden: Healthcare Providers’ Perspective

“…HCPs’ own knowledge and attitudes have been shown to be important for how vaccines are promoted. Furthermore, having the capacity and means to educate about the virus, related diseases, and vaccination is crucial for HCPs’ effective vaccine promotion [ 21 , 24 , 27 , 42 ].…”

“…Furthermore, the misconceptions that HPV is a female problem and that vaccination can lead to promiscuity can influence the decision [ 22 ]. HCPs request more information about HPV in order to meet parents and children’s questions and concerns [ 23 , 24 , 25 ]. Other expressed barriers include the discomfort when discussing the link between HPV and sexual behavior, especially when explaining oral and anal HPV transmission [ 26 ].…”

The Healthy, Immunized Communities Study: A pilot intervention to increase parents’ intentions to get vaccines for their middle school children

“…Public health practitioners call for the need to support schools in delivering evidence-based programming to combat the spread of anti-vaccination communication, restore parents’ vaccine confidence, and improve student vaccination compliance [17] , [18] , [19] . In full partnership with a school district in Pennsylvania and after gathering feedback from key school and community stakeholders, we developed and implemented The Healthy, Immunized Communities Study.…”

“…Second, acknowledging the unique role of school nurses in communicating with students and parents about vaccine requirements, our team developed a toolkit to support their efforts [29] . The toolkit development was informed by feedback from twenty-one Pennsylvania school nurses [30] . To facilitate nurses’ role in assisting families with vaccination policy adherence, the kit includes ready-to-use materials, such as a sample communication plan and timeline, notification letter templates for parents, and guidance on how to manage exemption requests.…”

“…School-based vaccine-promoting interventions seem a promising solution to increase student vaccine compliance because these interventions can be easily integrated within existing year-round school events [19] , [31] . However, our pilot intervention fell short of its intended effect; this result may stem from the low intervention uptake among parents and the lack of additional strategies connecting students to vaccination services.…”