Nursing Students’ Opinions About the COVID-19 Vaccine: A Descriptive, Cross-Sectional Study

Year 2022, Volume: 7 Issue: 2, 297 - 305, 01.06.2022

Selmin Köse Zeynep Erkut Müjde Çalıkuşu İncekar Sevim Savaşer

https://doi.org/10.26453/otjhs.1048434

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to identify the nursing students' opinions about the COVID-19 vaccine.

Materials and Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional study was realized with 1008 students enrolled in the nursing departments of four universities located in Istanbul. Data were collected online with Information Form.

Results: 85.7% of the students did not get a COVID-19 vaccine, and 44.8% of the unvaccinated students did not think about getting a vaccine or were indecisive. The reasons for the students' not thinking about getting the vaccine or their indecisiveness about it were most frequently the vaccine having been produced in a very short time, not trusting the protection or content of the vaccine, not having enough information about the vaccine. A significant difference was found between the students’ grade (p= 0.000), type of university (p= 0.000), knowledge level about the COVID-19 illness (p= 0.028) and vaccine (p= 0.000) and their thinking about getting vaccinated.

Conclusion: It was found that a tiny part of the students was vaccinated; almost half of the unvaccinated students did not think about getting vaccinated or were indecisive. Understanding the student's perspective on the COVID-19 vaccine can be helpful in planning multidisciplinary education strategies. 

Keywords

COVID-19, immunization, nursing, vaccines, vaccination

Hemşirelik Öğrencilerinin COVID-19 Aşısına İlişkin Görüşleri: Tanımlayıcı, Kesitsel Bir Çalışma

Abstract

Amaç: Bu araştırmanın amacı hemşirelik öğrencilerinin COVID-19 aşısına ilişkin görüşlerini belirlemektir.

Materyal ve Metot: Tanımlayıcı, kesitsel tasarımda olan bu araştırma İstanbul’da bulunan dört üniversitenin hemşirelik bölümünde öğrenim gören 1008 öğrenci ile gerçekleştirildi. Veriler “Bilgi Formu’’ aracılığıyla online olarak toplandı.

Bulgular: Araştırmada öğrencilerin %85,7’sinin COVID-19 aşısı olmadığı, aşı olmayan öğrencilerin ise %44,8’inin aşı yaptırmayı düşünmediği veya karasız olduğu bulundu. Öğrencilerin COVID-19 aşısı yaptırmayı düşünmeme veya kararsızlık nedenleri arasında en sık; aşının çok hızlı sürede üretilmiş olması, aşının koruyuculuğuna veya içeriğine güvenmeme, aşı hakkında yeterli bilgi sahibi olmama olduğu belirlendi. Öğrencilerin sınıf düzeyi (p= 0,000), üniversite türü (p= 0,000), COVID-19 hastalığı (p = 0,028) ve aşısı (p= 0,000) ile ilgili bilgi düzeyleri ile aşı yaptırmayı düşünme durumları arasında anlamlı fark olduğu belirlendi.

Sonuç: Öğrencilerin çok az bir bölümünün aşı olduğu, aşı olmayan öğrencilerin yarısına yakınının aşı olmayı düşünmediği veya kararsız oldukları belirlendi. Öğrencilerin COVID-19 aşısına bakış açısını belirlemek çok disiplinli eğitim stratejilerinin planlanmasında yardımcı olabilir. 

Keywords

COVID-19, immünizasyon, hemşirelik, aşılar, aşılama

References

• Wu D, Wu T, Liu Q, Yang Z. The SARS-CoV-2 outbreak: What we know. Int J Infect Dis. 2020;94:44-48. doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2020.03.004
• Leng A, Maitland E, Wang S, Nicholas S, Liu R, Wang J. Individual preferences for COVID-19 vaccination in China. Vaccine. 2021;39(2):247-254. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.12.009
• Erkekoğlu P, Erdemli Köse SB, Balcı A, Yirün A. Vaccine hesitancy and effects of COVID-19. Journal of Literature Pharmacy Sciences. 2020;9(2):208-220. doi:10.5336/pharmsci.2020-76102 [in Turkish]
• Feleszko W, Lewulis P, Czarnecki A, Waszkiewicz P. Flattening the curve of COVID-19 vaccine rejection-an international overview. Vaccines. 2021;9(1):44. doi:10.3390/vaccines9010044
• Murphy J, Vallières F, Bentall RP, et al. Psychological characteristics associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and resistance in Ireland and the United Kingdom. Nature Communications. 2021;12(29):1-15.
• Graffigna G, Palamenghi L, Boccia S, Barello S. Relationship between citizens’ health engagement and intention to take the COVID-19 vaccine in Italy: A mediation analysis. Vaccines. 2020;8(4):576. doi:10.3390/vaccines8040576
• University of Chicago National Opinion Research Center. Expectations for a COVID-19 vaccine. AP-NORC CENTER 2020. https://apnorc.org/projects/expectations-for-a-covid-19-vaccine/. Accessed October 2, 2021.
• Neumann-Böhme S, Varghese NE, Sabat I, et al. Once we have it, will we use it? A European survey on willingness to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Eur J Health Econ. 2020;21(7):977-982. doi:10.1007/s10198-020-01208-6
• Dror AA, Eisenbach N, Taiber S, et al. Vaccine hesitancy: the next challenge in the fight against COVID-19. Eur J Epidemiol. 2020;35(8):775-779. doi:10.1007/s10654-020-00671-y
• Dubé E, MacDonald NE. How can a global pandemic affect vaccine hesitancy?. Expert Rev Vaccines. 2020;19(10):899-901. doi:10.1080/14760584.2020.1825944
• Kwok KO, Li KK, Wei WI, Tang A, Wong SYS, Lee SS. Influenza vaccine uptake, COVID-19 vaccination intention and vaccine hesitancy among nurses: A survey. Int J Nurs Stud. 2021;114:103854. doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2020.103854
• Sylvia Chou WY, Budenz A. Considering emotion in COVID-19 vaccine communication: Addressing vaccine hesitancy and fostering vaccine confidence. Health Commun. 2020;35(14):1718-1722. doi:10.1080/10410236.2020.1838096
• World Health Organization. Global vaccine action plan. World Health Organization; 2020b. https://www.who.int/teams/immunization-vaccines-and-biologicals/strategies/global-vaccine-action-plan. Accessed October 2, 2021.
• Barello S, Nania T, Dellafiore F, Graffigna G, Caruso R. ‘Vaccine hesitancy’ among university students in Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Eur J Epidemiol. 2020;35(8):781-783. doi:10.1007/s10654-020-00670-z
• Gorbalenya AE, Baker SC, Baric RS, et al. The species severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus: classifying 2019-nCoV and naming it SARS-CoV-2. Nat Microbiol. 2020;5(4):536-544. doi:10.1038/s41564-020-0695-z
• Wang W, Xu Y, Gao R, et al. Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in different types of clinical specimens. JAMA. 2020;323(18):1843-1844. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.3786
• World Health Organization. WHO coronavirus (COVID-19) dashboard. World Health Organization; 2021a. https://covid19.who.int/ Accessed December 27, 2021.
• Ministry of Health. Turkey COVID-19 patient chart. Ministry of Health; 2021. https://covid19.saglik.gov.tr/. Accessed December 27, 2021.
• Manning ML, Gerolamo AM, Marino MA, Hanson-Zalot, ME, Pogorzelska-Maziarz M. COVID-19 vaccination readiness among nurse faculty and student nurses. Nurs Outlook. 2021;69(4):565-573. doi:10.1016/j.outlook.2021.01.019
• Gohel KH, Patel PB, Shah PM, Patel JR, Pandit N, Raut A. Knowledge and perceptions about COVID-19 among the medical and allied health science students in India: An online cross-sectional survey. Clin Epidemiol Global Health. 2021;9:104-109. doi:10.1016/j.cegh.2020.07.008
• Guntuku SC, Buttenheim AM, Sherman G, Merchant RM. Twitter discourse reveals geographical and temporal variation in concerns about COVID-19 vaccines in the United States. Vaccine. 2021;39(30);4034-4038. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.06.014
• World Health Organization. WHO issues its first emergency use validation for a COVID-19 vaccine and emphasizes need for equitable global access. World Health Organization; 2021c. https://www.who.int/news/item/31-12-2020-who-issues-its-first-emergency-use-validation-for-a-covid-19-vaccine-and-emphasizes-need-for-equitable-global-access. Accessed October 2, 2021.
• World Health Organization. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): vaccines. World Health Organization; 2021d. https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/coronavirus-disease-(covid-19)-vaccines?adgroupsurvey={adgroupsurvey}&gclid=EAIaIQobChMItcyGi9O88QIVjflRCh3amgz0EAAYASAAEgJyqvD_BwE. Accessed October 2, 2021.
• World Health Organization. COVID-19 vaccine tracker and landscape. World Health Organization; 2021b. https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/draft-landscape-of-covid-19-candidate-vaccines. Accessed December 27, 2021.
• Patelarou E, Galanis P, Mechili EA, et al. Factors influencing nursing students' intention to accept COVID-19 vaccination: A pooled analysis of seven European countries. Nurse Educ Today. 2021;104:105010. doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2021.105010
• Maltezou HC, Pavli A, Dedoukou X, et al. Determinants of intention to get vaccinated against COVID-19 among healthcare personnel in hospitals in Greece. Infect Dis Health. 2021;26(3):189-197. doi:10.1016/j.idh.2021.03.002
• Qunaibi E, Basheti I, Soudy M, Sultan I. Hesitancy of Arab healthcare workers towards COVID-19 vaccination: A large-scale multinational study. Vaccines. 2021;9(5):446. doi:10.3390/vaccines9050446
• Raftopoulos V, Iordanou S, Katsapi A, Dedoukou X, Maltezou HC. A comparative online survey on the intention to get COVID-19 vaccine between Greek and Cypriot healthcare personnel: Is the country a predictor?. Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2021;17(8):2397-2404. doi:10.1080/21645515.2021.1896907
• Enriquez M. Vaccine hesitancy and COVID-19: Nursing’s role. Hisp Health Care Int. 2021;19(2):74. doi:10.1177/15404153211012874
• McAteer J, Yildirim I, Chahroudi A. The VACCINES act: Deciphering vaccine hesitancy in the time of COVID-19. Clin Infect Dis. 2020;71(15):703-705. doi:10.1093/cid/ciaa433