31024 Vaccines

What you'll learn

Course overview

Discussion about vaccines. Topics include the increase in unvaccinated children and vaccine-preventable deaths; the mechanisms of how vaccines prevent diseases; the concept of herd immunity; recommended child immunizations; childhood diseases that are resurging due to the decrease of vaccinated children and the complications of those diseases; vaccine laws and their exemptions, as well as reasons for parental hesitancy to vaccinate their children; and the role of the nurse in educating about vaccines and the balance of risks and benefits. There is also a discussion about how implicit bias may impact healthcare. There is an increase in parents choosing not to vaccinate their children in the United States. Registered nurses need to be educated on vaccine-preventable disease processes that have been on the decline in the past decades that are now on the rise again. Many nurses in the workforce have not seen many cases of mumps, measles, rubella, or even chickenpox as they have been vaccinated against since the 1960s and 1970s. Registered nurses need education on disease diagnoses and complications of those diseases as well as patient education that favors vaccination.