Childhood Vaccinations and the nurse

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Feb 20, 2008

Hoo boy, this is a really touchy subject! Some parents don't want their kids to be vaccinated because of religious persuasions, or they believe that it's unnecessary, they don't want their children to be given "unnatural" substances and that the diseases we vaccinate for are extinct. We know they're not... measles outbreaks in the eastern US, rubella outbreaks all over the midwest, university students getting mumps, a healthy crop pf pertussis every year, and so on... but unlees their child is the one to succumb, it's not real. Then there are the ones who believe that vaccines cause autism, despite numerous and multiplying studies that have found no link. Some don't vaccinate because they don't have primary health care and aren't reminded...

Now, I can tell you a vaccination story that I was connected to, how I handled it and how it affected me. I work in a PICU that cares for about 600 patients following cardiac surgical procedures a year. We also receive a significant number of solid organ transplant patients each year. A few years ago we had a little fellow in our unit who had been through the first two stages of surgical treatment of hypoplastic right heart syndrome. He was admitted on night through the ED in extremis. We managed to keep him alive and he recovered enough to be listed for transplant. But he had not had any of his immunizations, and neither had his two older sisters, nor his infant sister. His parents are from an orthodox faith and were convinced that vaccines were both unnecessary and unhealthy. I'm the mom of a transplant recipient and I know first hand how worrisome it is to know that your child has little protection from any bug that might be going around. I was chosen to try and help them understand what it would mean if this boy and his siblings remained unvaccinated. I started off with a little education about how transplants work and how the body is tricked into accepting the new organ as its own. Then I talked a bit about how this boy would be essentially defenseless in the face of any and every infectious agent going around. "What about antibiotics?" Well, they're really good, but they only do part of the job... I like to use analogies that people can understand; the dad is a farmer so I used a farm analogy to explain synergy between a functioning immune system and antibiotics in beating infections. I also reminded tham that we have very few weapons against viruses, and some of the things we vaccinate for are viral. Then I went on to talk about how the sisters would be exposed to all sorts of evil things at school and church, and that they couldn't help but bring all those bad things home with them, and give them to their little brother like a gift. Like a Trojan horse. While they were digesting all that, I played my trump card. I told them it was possible that the transplant team might not want to do the transplant if they didn't have some assurance that this boy would be given the best chance for survival afterwards. I made it seem like this was all just conversation. A few days later they agreed to have all four of the kids immunized. A small victory, but worth it.

Will that help your paper?

Silverdragon102, BSN · Feb 20, 2008

Interesting topic. My previous job involved vaccinating children from the age of 8 weeks onwards and yes we had some parents that had religious views and also the parent that would believe what was printed in the press and obviously they was right compared to health professional with research to prove. But at the end of the day no matter how much you want to vaccinate children all you can do is make sure that the parents/guardian has information and can make their informed consent or not by providing appropriate literature and giving the time for the parent/guardian to express any concerns/worries and if possible time to chat with a doctor if necessary

I do believe in vaccination but can not force someone else to believe just ensure I give it my best shot (no pun intended :))

Sorewa · Feb 20, 2008

Thanks! I will take your posts into considerations as I write my paper. I will let you all know when I am done and my final grade how it came out! =)