Open AccessVaccination-Related Activities at Schools With Kindergartners: Evidence From a School Nurse Survey
Author(s) -
Andrew J. Leidner,
Erin D. Maughan,
Adam Bjork,
Carla L. Black,
Donna Mazyck,
J. Michael Underwood
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the journal of school nursing/journal of school nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.617
H-Index - 33
eISSN - 1546-8364
pISSN - 1059-8405
DOI - 10.1177/1059840519847730
Subject(s) - vaccination , family medicine , medicine , phone , psychology , immunology , linguistics , philosophy
Vaccination coverage among children in kindergarten varies across the country and within states. We surveyed a convenience sample of kindergarten school nurses to investigate self-reported vaccination-related activities conducted at schools nationwide. The majority of the 1,435 kindergarten school nurses responding reported that their schools communicate with parents and guardians of undervaccinated students by phone (96%), postal mail (67%), newsletters (61%), and e-mail (59%). Most respondents reported documenting vaccination coverage in electronic systems (85%) and sharing coverage reports with health departments (69%). A total of 41% of school nurses worked with external partners for vaccination efforts, the most common support received from partners being vaccine administration (38%) and providing materials/vaccines (21%). School nurses also reported that 95% of kindergartners were up to date for all vaccines. School-based vaccination-related activities are essential to sustaining high levels of vaccination coverage for the protection of children at schools and in the broader community.