Identifying patterns and profiles of vaccination hesitancy among nurses for tailoring healthcare policies in the UK: A cross-sectional study

Goran Erfani; Jemma McCready; Bethany Nichol; Charlotte Gordon; John Unsworth; Michelle Croston; Dania Comparcini; Valentina Simonetti; Giancarlo Cicolini; Kristina Mikkonen; Jeremia Keisala; Marco Tomietto

doi:10.1111/inr.13035

Identifying patterns and profiles of vaccination hesitancy among nurses for tailoring healthcare policies in the UK: A cross-sectional study

Int Nurs Rev. 2024 Aug 19. doi: 10.1111/inr.13035. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nursing, Midwifery and Health, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
² Department of Social Work, Education and Community Wellbeing, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
³ Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK.
⁴ Department of Precision and Regenerative Medicine and Ionian Area, University of Bari "Aldo Moro,", Bari, Italy.
⁵ Department of Innovative Technologies in Medicine and Dentistry, University "G. D'Annunzio" Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.
⁶ Research Unit of Health Science and Technology Faculty of Medicine, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.

PMID: 39158159
DOI: 10.1111/inr.13035

Abstract

Aims: To profile the characteristics of nurses with varying levels of vaccine hesitancy toward the COVID-19 and influenza vaccines.

Background: In many countries across the world, healthcare workers, and nurses in particular, display significant reluctance toward COVID-19 and influenza vaccines due to concerns about safety, distrust in healthcare policies, and media influences. To address this, a proposed approach involves profiling nurses to tailor vaccination campaigns and to improve acceptance rates and public health outcomes.

Methods: This cross-sectional study adopted the Vaccination Attitudes Examination scale to assess hesitancy toward COVID-19 and influenza vaccines among 294 registered nurses in the UK between March and July 2023. A K-means cluster analysis was performed. The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guidelines were adopted.

Results: Three profiles were identified. Profile A showed low vaccination hesitancy, profile B showed average hesitancy, and profile C showed high hesitancy toward vaccines. The highest concern for all profiles was related to unforeseen future effects of vaccination. Profile C had more nurses in early career roles, whereas nurses in profiles A and B were in more senior roles. Profile A showed higher educational attainment. Nurses in profile C used Snapchat more, whereas nurses in profile A used Twitter more frequently.

Conclusion: This study identified specific characteristics associated with higher levels of vaccination hesitancy in nursing. Unforeseen future effects of vaccination are a core aspect to consider in promoting vaccination.

Implications for nursing and nursing policy: Policies and vaccination campaigns should be targeted on early career nurses and should deliver tailored messages to dispel misinformation about unforeseen future effects of vaccination through specific social media platforms. Senior nurses should be involved as role models in promoting vaccination. These results are key for enhancing an evidence-based approach to implementing global health policies in healthcare.

Keywords: COVID‐19; influenza; machine learning; nurses; profiles; vaccination campaigns; vaccination hesitancy.