Factors Contributing to Parental Vaccine Hesitancy and Best Practices for Registered Nurses

CLINICAL RESEARCH QUESTION 1
Clinical Research Question
Clinical Research Question

CLINICAL RESEARCH QUESTION 2
Immunization refers to the process where a person is vaccinated to be protected from
infectious diseases. Children are commonly vaccinated against infectious diseases such as
influenza, polio, tetanus and whooping cough, measles, and mumps. These diseases are very
dangerous as they can cause disability such as polio and tetanus. Immunization works by
triggering the immune system of the body to protect the person against such deadly diseases.
According to (Kaufman et al., 2018), vaccination is a proven disease prevention strategy for
managing deadly infectious disorders. The vaccination approach is estimated to prevent 2 to 3
million deaths from deadly infectious disorders every year. It remains as one of the most
effective health approaches with demonstrative systems that is easily accessible to all people
even the most vulnerable group in the society. The current immunization strategies have clearly
targets groups mostly children under the age of ten years.
Immunizations have had a significant effect on the well-being of children around the
world. Besides, 99% ability of vaccination in prevention of infectious diseases has been regarded
as one of significant achievements in health sector in the last 50 decades (Nowak et al., 2015).
Nonetheless, over the previous decade, acknowledgement of its important in prevention of
infectious diseases has been scrutinized by several people. An increasing number of individuals
have been requesting an alternative option of vaccination, whereas others have been postponing
vaccination schedules. Besides, many parents have failed to believe in vaccination for fear of
their children’s safety. Some believe that vaccine causes pain to their children; others believe
that vaccines will make their children become sick or develop autism among many other
concerns (Kaufman et al., 2018).
The refusal of many parents to vaccinate their children has become a clinical issue that
needs to be addressed. The refusing or delaying of acknowledgement of immunization in spite of

CLINICAL RESEARCH QUESTION 3
its importance is referred to as vaccine hesitancy. It has become a complex issue in clinical
setting as many parents remain adamant to participate or take their children for vaccination.
The EBM triad constitutes three main components for decision making in health care.
The three components of EBM triad include best external evidence, individual clinical expertise
and patient values and expectations. The use of these three elements of EBM triad, a registered
nurse will be able to understand the issue of parent’s hesitancy to vaccine. Besides, the element
of evidenced-based practice will be critical for a registered nurse to find effective strategies and
best practices that can reduce the rate of parent refusal to vaccination. The EBP triad will help a
registered nurse to be able to clearly identify the patient health issue based on the assessment
carried out, be able to research the literature for applicable research, evaluate the research and
choose the best interventions for quality outcome.
According to (Nowak et al., 2015), communicating effectively about the vaccines to
parents is one of the key best practices for registered nurses for a quality outcome. The registered
nurses have the responsibility to commit themselves to maintain high vaccination rates. The best
practice, in this case, is effectively answering all parents’ questions regarding the vaccine,
providing educational materials, and ensuring that families make and keep vaccine appointments
as required. When it comes to vaccines, most parents consider health care specialists who are
able to provide trustworthy information on vaccines. This applies to all parents, even those who
are vaccine-hesitant as it is evidenced by (Williams, 2014). In many cases, parents have negative
attitudes toward the vaccine. This is because they often receive erroneous information and hear
emotional narrative accounts about the adverse effects of the vaccine. This becomes a challenge
for health caregivers to correct their misperceptions about vaccines. Therefore, registered nurses
have a critical role in helping parents choose effective vaccines for their children by providing