We know that the great majority of health professionals understand the evidence that vaccines work and that they are safe and necessary.
Most parents too.
Some still haven’t gotten the message though.
From the nurses who refuse to get vaccinated, even though they are routinely around high risk children, to other health care providers who push the idea that it is okay to skip or delay some vaccines, they all put our kids at risk.
Unfortunately, it isn’t just vaccine-friendly pediatricians who are pushing non-standard, parent-selected, delayed protection vaccine schedules and who are leaving kids at risk for vaccine-preventable diseases.
“One would anticipate that this medical advance would be universally embraced by both parents and health care professionals. Sadly, however, the antivaccine movement, fueled by a lack of respect for the evidence and a profound paranoia, remains alive and well. It is not an overstatement to lay the blame for a resurgence of deadly childhood infections, stemming from declining vaccination rates, at the feet of this movement. Nurse practitioners (NP) also bear some degree of the blame. While certainly not scientific, the anecdotal evidence from letters to JNP documents that some proportion of our readers buy into the pseudoscience of the antivaccine movement. Comments have ranged from bafflingly uninformed (“I don’t think there is enough evidence to support widespread immunizations”) to profoundly unethical (“I recommend to my patients that they not vaccinate their children”).”
Laurie Scudder, DNP, NP on The Importance of Vaccinations
They are often joined by one or more vaccine-friendly nurse practitioners…
Nurse Practitioners on Vaccines
Of course, most nurse practitioners support getting kids vaccinated and protected though.
That’s reflected in the position statement of the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP):
“NAPNAP supports the prioritization of immunization education for parents, guardians and other caregivers of infants, children, and adolescents. This education must include the most current scientific evidence related to vaccine safety, risk, benefits and current resources available to ensure that parents and caregivers receive adequate information about immunizations. This includes, when necessary, relaying the risk of not immunizing their child and potential devastation that can occur when a child is infected with a vaccine-preventable disease. It is incumbent that a PNP also be aware of misinformation in the public domain and provides the correct information to the public as well as the health care community.”
Fortunately, most NPs do a great job educating parents and getting kids vaccinated.
Not all of them though.
You can still find some pushing classic anti-vaccine propaganda about vaccines being made in China, that vaccines don’t work, that vaccine-preventable diseases aren’t dangerous, and that natural treatments work are safer – including many, like essential oils and vitamins that they will be very happy to sell to you.
“It’s time for NPs to be part of the solution. We must preach the importance of vaccines, and then we must practice what we preach and be appropriately immunized ourselves.”
Laurie Scudder, DNP, NP on The Importance of Vaccinations
Actually, it’s time for everyone to get educated and to be part of the solution!
What To Know About Nurse Practitioners on Vaccines
Like the great majority of other health care providers, most nurse practitioners fully support getting kids vaccinated and protected against vaccine preventable diseases.
More About Nurse Practitioners on Vaccines
- A Nurse Practitioner’s Journey Leaving the Anti-Vaccination Movement
- NAPNAP Immunization Resources
- American Association of Nurse Practitioners Immunization Education Tools
- Nurse Practitioners Lead Effort to Immunize Children in Ecuador and Guatemala
- Study – Promoting Childhood Immunizations
- Editorial – The Importance of Vaccinations
- Editorial – Let’s Improve HPV Vaccination Rates
- Study – Factors Associated With Health Care Personnel Influenza Vaccination Behavior
- Study – Influenza During Pregnancy: The Role of the Nurse Practitioner
- The Real Reason Your Pediatric Health Provider Wants You To Vaccinate Your Child
- Pediatric Nurse Practitioners Join Campaign to Advocate for Global Vaccines
Last Updated on October 29, 2017