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Improve your staff flu vaccination policy

Staff Development Weekly: Insight on Evidence-Based Practice in Education, December 29, 2006

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January 1 marks the debut of a new JCAHO standard that requires hospitals to offer vaccines to all staff, including volunteers and licensed independent practitioners.

IC.4.15 also requires facilities to determine why staff refuse flu shots. With all of this in mind, it is a good time to verify the status of your employee flu vaccination program to ensure that it has the resources needed to improve vaccine participation rates.

Terrie Lee, director of clinical epidemiology and employee health at Charleston (WV) Area Medical Center, says her team was able to improve flu vaccination rates using some creative ideas.

"We used 'nurse champions,' [who] are stationed at all nursing departments," Lee says.

The nurse champions administer flu shots to their coworkers on the unit so those folks don't have to leave the department to receive a vaccination. The champions might also vaccinate other staff, such as a respiratory therapist or physician practicing on their floor.

The nurse champions received education about

• related JCAHO standards
• how influenza spreads
• how to dispel common myths associated with the vaccines

To get more tips, go to Briefings on Infection Control (BOIC). For the cost of just three stories, you can get the entire January issue of BOIC. Click here to choose between the PDF and HTML versions for just $30. Subscribers to the online version of BOIC have free access to this article. Subscribers to the print newsletter can find this article in their January issue.

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