A few weeks ago a friend with a new grandchild whispered to me, "What am I going to do? My daughter doesn't want to get the baby vaccinated!" My dismay must have been evident as I spoke gently to her, "Oh Linda, I'm so sorry. What have you tried so far to convince her?" She went on to list her various tactics, everything from infomercial-style science to cajoling to arguing to demanding. Nothing was working. The baby had passed the time for its 2-month shots. The mother had even changed providers in order to find one that agreed to see her child without vaccinations.
What do we do as nurses? What is the best way to convince reluctant parents of the benefits of vaccination for all children? How do you talk to someone who is completely against vaccination and who believes the false news stories condemning their use?
Our tendency is to want to assign blame for the situation we find ourselves in as a society. How did we get where we are? What caused this sudden shift in vaccination usage? The causes would involve a long exploration of lots of studies and literature, but ultimately, parents have given birth to children in a time of deep distrust of the established way of doing things. That coupled with sensationalized stories of supposed harm from vaccinations may have led to drop in the numbers of children being vaccinated and to dangerous outbreaks of diseases like measles-once a rarity, now distressingly more common. Another factor pointed out by researchers is the fact that these childhood diseases, once common and dreaded passages of childhood, are now so uncommon that many parents have never witnessed the true misery they can inflict on a child and the potential sequelae. In their efforts to protect their child from harm, they mistakenly think that they are doing the best thing by not vaccinating.
The CDC does an impressive job with their easily accessible information on vaccination (Facts for Parents: For Parents of Infants and Young Children (birth through 6 years old) | CDC). Listing the 14 diseases that vaccines prevent before age 2, the CDC goes on to provide all the science and detail that parents might be interested in regarding those once common scourges: Chickenpox (Varicella), Diphtheria, Flu (Influenza), Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Hib, Measles, Mumps, Polio, Pneumococcal, Rotavirus, Rubella, Tetorifice, Whooping Cough (Pertussis).
So what's a nurse to do to counter this tsunami of non-compliance? How can we help our patients/parents understand the risks and benefits of vaccinations in a comprehensive way that promotes health for all children?
Stay respectful
Shaming and blaming are not great tools in our teaching toolkit. We have to acknowledge that just about every parent out there only wants what is ultimately best for their child. When we are less than professional we break the tenuous bridges of communication and miss out on an opportunity to offer that particular parent the benefit of our knowledge and expertise.
Listen with compassion to the parents' reasoning and motivation
Having open-ended conversations that allow for questions and answers has a chance of producing the desired outcome. When we listen, we build trust. When we build trust, we maximize the opportunity for success in being able to have our instruction received in a positive manner. This is easier to do when we remember that one of the contributing factors to the drop in level of inoculation may be the distrust between young parents and the established medical community.
Learn a few facts that can make an impression
One that I used several times this past flu season was the fact that children who were vaccinated for influenza got less sick than children who were not vaccinated and of those children who died, 74% had not had the vaccine (Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Against Pediatric Deaths: 21-214 | Articles | Pediatrics). The number of statistics and the complexity of their interpretation can make our arguments seem like so much white noise to parents who are already overwhelmed. If we keep our advice on topic, our information to the point, it is possible that we will avoid turning the parents' attention setting to "off" before we get started. Sometimes it seems like we can be our own worst enemies as we try to cover every possible scenario, every single number, every potential complication-all in an effort to be complete. Is it possible that this is one of those times when less is actually more?
Lay down the law
After California laid down laws making it tougher for parents to get exemptions, vaccination rates rose among incoming school-age children (Vaccination rate jumps in California after tougher inoculation law). As professional nurses, we can all speak to our state officials and our representatives about the need for stricter vaccination standards.
Make it clear
Zach Horne, a graduate student in psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign researched the link between information and change in behavior related to vaccinations: "What's going on with anti-vaccination parents, we think, is because they haven't seen kids with measles and mumps, those consequences aren't that real to them." (There's a surprisingly simple way to convince vaccine skeptics to reconsider - The Washington Post) Is it possible that because parents had never seen the devastating effects of the "Big 14" listed above, they were less likely to inoculate? Horne and others emphasize that more work needs to be done. Meanwhile, could it help to show some pictures? It is unclear but may be helpful.
As nurses, we are ambassadors for accurate scientific information. As we help spread the good news that vaccinations really do help kids, may we do it with kindness, respect and also thoroughness. My friend's grandchild remains unvaccinated, but the conversation continues and has really only just begun.
Specializes in Palliative, Onc, Med-Surg, Home Hospice.
"Those that do not know history are doomed to repeat it "
Please check out the history of vaccines before you condemn this loving grandmother. Google Dr. Alton Oschsner who publicly declared the polio vaccine as safe and then vaccinated his grandchildren resulting in the death of his grandson and his granddaughter contracted polio.
Musings from 2th Street - Home what you need to know about the correlation between vaccines and cancer is one of many sites and there are many! Educate yourself about what is in the vaccine... "heavy metals, pus from sores of diseased animals, calf serum, fecal matter.... mycoplasma, bacteria, monkey viruses... mercury, aluminum... etc".
The onslaught of soft tissue cancers in this generation may well have been caused by genetically altered monkey virus... check out "Dr. Mary's Monkey" by Edward T. Haslam.
Do you really know what you're doing by advocating mass innoculations? I assure you you really don't.
Have you checked into boosting one's immune system with food and supplements? Do you know about colloidal silver as a natural protective element? Coconut oil is antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal....
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge " Hosea 4:6
And don't assume that because some of us don't agree with you that we are not education or informed. I assure you we are. When you can come up with actual peer reviewed studies to counter those studies that have been done on the safety and efficacy of vaccines, then come talk to us.
Ugh, I haven't and I hope I never do. How about the rabies vaccine? I wonder where that one stands with the anti-vaccine faction?
Hmmmmm. I wonder too. I have seen two cases of tetorifice in my career. Two more than I ever wanted to. One survived. The family was so grateful that they brought her back a year later and even let us take pictures with her (they were Amish). They also happily reported that because of what happened every child in their community had their immunizations brought up to date.
Specializes in Psych, Peds, Education, Infection Control.
I've seen a child die from tetorifice and it was awful.
I'm only liking in sympathy - that's so awful.
I keep reading some of these comments, reminding myself, people are entitled to their opinion, and I'm entitled to think they're dead wrong. My biggest problem with the autism argument, specifically, is that no matter how tough autism can be (and I have extensive personal and professional experience with autism), if that is someone's primary objection to vaccination, they're saying their child is better off fighting a potentially deadly disease than autistic. Religious and medical exemptions, I can support, but I don't ever want to hear the autism card played again on this issue (especially since the study was debunked).
I keep reading some of these comments, reminding myself, people are entitled to their opinion, and I'm entitled to think they're dead wrong. My biggest problem with the autism argument, specifically, is that no matter how tough autism can be (and I have extensive personal and professional experience with autism), if that is someone's primary objection to vaccination, they're saying their child is better off fighting a potentially deadly disease than autistic. Religious and medical exemptions, I can support, but I don't ever want to hear the autism card played again on this issue (especially since the study was debunked).
I can't even support religious exemptions. Not getting immunizations hurts others, not just the non-immunized child. That's where I draw the line. If you object to vaccines, then please home school your children and keep them out of public places. Decisions have consequences.
There are valid reasons to vaccinate and there are valid reasons not to. This is a medical procedure with inherent risk to it should be given only after a signed informed consent is obtained. This informed consent should be provided and simplified so that the parent understands the risks of the vaccination ( there are many) and that the child will be injected with formaldehyde, mercury, foreign DNA and RNA, other biologics etc. The parent should also be given the information of what it means to be injected with formaldehyde and mercury- that these are neurotoxins and can cause permanent brain injury.
I then ask those of you who insist on vaccinating your child, which is your right, why are you afraid of a child who is not vaccinated? If the vaccine works, then your child should not get sick if exposed to a child who has not been vaccinated. It should be just as much a right for a parent to refuse a treatment since it does not endanger anyone else.
Someone please explain to me why a newborn needs a HepB vaccine? This is just wrong.
Someone please explain to me why a newborn needs a HepB vaccine? This is just wrong.
I am guessing this is a rhetorical question, but I'll give it a go anyway:
1) Women can carry unknowingly carry the Hep B virus and pass it on to their baby
2) You never know when your baby or child may be exposed accidentally-through a medical procedure, accidental blood exposure, or unfortunately through assault.
3) There is a chance to completely eradicate Hep B worldwide and eliminate the leading cause of liver cancer. In order to do that, everyone must be vaccinated, just as in small pox and polio. Babies have a robust response to the vaccine, so 3 shots in infancy and (in most cases) they are protected for life.
There are valid reasons to vaccinate and there are valid reasons not to. This is a medical procedure with inherent risk to it should be given only after a signed informed consent is obtained. This informed consent should be provided and simplified so that the parent understands the risks of the vaccination ( there are many) and that the child will be injected with formaldehyde, mercury, foreign DNA and RNA, other biologics etc. The parent should also be given the information of what it means to be injected with formaldehyde and mercury- that these are neurotoxins and can cause permanent brain injury.
I then ask those of you who insist on vaccinating your child, which is your right, why are you afraid of a child who is not vaccinated? If the vaccine works, then your child should not get sick if exposed to a child who has not been vaccinated. It should be just as much a right for a parent to refuse a treatment since it does not endanger anyone else.
Someone please explain to me why a newborn needs a HepB vaccine? This is just wrong.
There is nothing in vaccines that isn't in everyday life (except the antigen). Formaldehyde on fruits, surfactant in shampoos and toothpastes.. aluminium in water bottles.. etc.
Not vaccinating children isn't about the other vaccinated children, it's about those going through chemo, infants under 5 months old (or up to the age that they finish their primary course in your country) and those with immune deficiencies. It's about protecting our most vulnerable. Herd immunity protects these children.
Parents can pass Hep B onto their newborn child... do you know how serious Hep B can be?
CelticGoddess, BSN, RN
896 Posts
And don't assume that because some of us don't agree with you that we are not education or informed. I assure you we are. When you can come up with actual peer reviewed studies to counter those studies that have been done on the safety and efficacy of vaccines, then come talk to us.