Year: 2021
Type: editorial
Abstract: Society Board of Trustees as content expert for the American Nurses Association project, COVID Vaccine Facts for Nurses, funded by Johnson & Johnson.In collaboration with approximately 20 nursing organizations, those participating in the project have served to inform nurses about COVID-19 vaccines so they can facilitate informed decision making by their patients (information is posted at the project website: https://covidvaccinefacts4nurses.org/).This project is currently ongoing through at least September 2021.As part of the project development and delivery, those on the project team and organizational collaborators have regular video conference calls.Interactions on the calls stimulated my desire to understand as much as possible about COVID-19 vaccines and vaccine hesitancy.I, myself, had been vaccine hesitant until recently, so I understand the plight of many nurses who feel pulled between the push for vaccination and the desire to obtain information in order to make informed decisions for themselves, as well as for their patients.I shared my vaccine hesitancy story with the COVID Vaccine Facts for Nurses project team and collaborators on a video conference call, and also on a Transcultural Nursing Society town hall meeting that I moderated.I have been asked to share it here in an editorial, and I gladly do so, in order to shed light on what seems to have become a taboo topic in health care.I tell my story as a case study.I have no health risks for contracting severe COVID-19 disease.What put me on the defensive more than anything was the inability to have a dialogue about vaccination.Yes, there is a need to control misinformation, but nurses were not able to have dissenting views or questions about unknown vaccine safety issues, as they were at risk of being ostracized and possibly losing their jobs.How are we going to access the truth without being able to have an open conversation?The COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective for the vast majority of people.But we have seen that with mRNA vaccines there may be a rare side effect of myocarditis or pericarditis, generally in young males.Well, we can be transparent about that and let people know there are treatments for that rare side effect.That is open.That to me, is transparency.
Source: Journal of Transcultural Nursing
Author: Valerie S. Eschiti
Institution: University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Language: English
Subfield: Health
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W3203982598