Acceptance And Attitudes Of Student Nurses Towards Covid-19 Vaccine In Seventh Day Adventist School Of Nursing

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background of the study

Health related infections are the major problems of public health in many nations of the world, which ultimately cause an increase in the morbidity, mortality, and additional costs in health care settings (Al-Tawfiq et al., 2020).

In December 2019, there were emergence of some cases of the corona virus that originated in Wuhan City according to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2020). The causative pathogen was announced by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) on Jan 08, 2020, to be a novel coronavirus (Al-Tawfiq et al., 2020), lately named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Symptoms range from fever, flu-like symptoms such as coughing, sore throat and fatigue, and shortness of breath. There is evidence that it spreads from person to person, but good hygiene can prevent infection (Chavis & Ganesh, 2020; Chen et al, 2020; Deng and Peng, 2020).

As the reality of the coronavirus pandemic dawned on Nigeria, like the rest of the world had begun canceling events, flights, and virtually everything that required social, official, and religious gatherings (Adamu, 2020).

Several preventive measures are being applied during the COVID-19 pandemic to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission (Chou and Budenz, 2020). Vaccination against COVID-19 is expected to be the most efficient preventive measure for limiting the pandemic. Vaccines against SARS- CoV-2 became available at the end of 2020, and healthcare workers (HCWs) were in many countries among the first groups to be vaccinated. The success of a vaccination program depends on the uptake rates among the general population and especially among HCWs, who are important for vaccination advocacy (Logunov et al., 2021). Apart from being at a higher risk of becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2 than the general population, HCWs are also potential transmitters of the virus in the clinical setting, where they work with the most susceptible population, i.e., the elderly, and those with certain underlying medical conditions, which require more attention and care (Loomba et al., 2021). Studies have shown that vaccine acceptance and attitudes to be vaccinated against COVID-19 are higher among nurses than in the general population, mainly because of a higher perceived risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2 (Cucinotta and Vanelli, 2020). Compliance with preventive measures is influenced by individuals’ attitudes and perceived vulnerability to disease. Also, in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic greater compliance with preventive behavior has been found in individuals who experience greater psychological distress, are more anxious, and express greater perceived infectability and germ aversion (Odriozola-González et al., 2020). Vaccination acceptance and vaccination hesitancy are influenced by several factors, such as fear of adverse side effects and vaccine safety, perceived ineffectiveness of vaccine, poor information regarding illness/vaccine, perceived low risk of contracting illness, fear of needles, perceived low severity of illness, etc. (Jiang et al., 2021).

More than 50 vaccines for COVID-19 are either undergoing clinical trials or already approved for limited use in some countries (World Health Organization, 2020). Successful universal vaccination is considered to be the next big step in the fight against the contagion. While China started vaccinating nurses with its vaccine in early July 2020 (Helen, 2020). On December 30, 2020, Singapore became the first in Asia to authorize Tozinameran from Pfizer-BioNTech for use in healthcare workers (Singapore Ministry of Health, 2020). Other countries in Asia plan to follow suit in early 2021. However, vaccination effectiveness depends on the proportion of uptake by the population and hesitancy for receiving the vaccine is a major obstacle to combating the COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, the World Health Organization (WHO) listed vaccine hesitancy as one of the top 10 global health threats in 2019 (World Health Organization, 2019).

Nurses are recognized as the most important sources of information regarding health prevention issues and the strongest determinants of people’s vaccination decisions (Kreps et al., 2020). Research on factors influencing nursing vaccination acceptance and attitudes in cases of influenza, HPV, hepatitis B and other contagious diseases revealed that the knowledge about particular vaccines, their efficacy and safety, helped to build HCWs own confidence in vaccines and their willingness to recommend vaccines to others. The importance of societal endorsement and support from colleagues was also reported (Baden et al., 2021). Therefore, it is important to know HCW’s opinions and vaccination intentions, and to understand how key sociodemographic factors are related to vaccination intentions in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nursing students are highly involved in work in the health sector due to practical training and to their actual employment in the health sector. Moreover, they are educated and trained for an important role in health promotion and prevention (Kreps et al., 2020). The studies on preventive behavior of nursing students in the time of the COVID- 19 pandemic have mostly revealed their high level of adherence to preventive measures (Van Bavel et al., 2020). A study in Spain revealed a lack of knowledge of basic measures to prevent the transmission of the virus at both community and hospital levels (Dong et al., 2020). Vaccination intention studies among nursing students are scarce. In a study in the US, only 45% nursing students intended to be vaccinated against COVID-19 (Bell et al., 2020).

Due to the future professional roles of nursing students and their position in health care teams, this study aimed to analyze the preventive behaviour, vaccination acceptance and vaccination advocacy of nursing students in three European countries, as well as the factors influencing their vaccination intention. The survey was performed in Slovenia, Poland and Serbia, the countries belonging to Central and Eastern Europe with comparable system of nursing education, organized according to the EU directive 2005/36/EC (Helmy et al., 2020). Therefore, the results of the survey may add to the literature regarding European nursing students’ attitudes regarding preventive behaviors and vaccination acceptance and advocacy, as well as indicate future research directions and practical actions that should be undertaken. We hypothesized that working experience would be positively associated with higher adherence to preventive measures, higher vaccination intention and vaccination advocacy. Responsibility towards patients was expected to be among most important motivational factors for vaccination. To this note, this study examined the acceptance and attitudes of student nurses towards COVID-19 Vaccine.

 

1.2       Statement of the problem

The outbreak of corona virus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Nigeria has increase the level of tension and anxiety among citizens in the country. The virus unlike other cases we have had in this country is highly transmittable with severe signs and symptoms.

As of December 2020, more than 18 million individuals had been infected with COVID19 in Europe and over a million had died. The pandemic had a serious impact on hospital burden and on the working conditions and mental health of healthcare professionals (HCPs). Yet vaccination was under way, with the first COVID-19 vaccines being evaluated and approved by the European Medicines Agency and the European Commission, and national and international vaccination strategies being developed.

As part of the European vaccination strategy, healthcare workers were identified as one of the priority groups for vaccination, with the goal of vaccinating 80% of them by August 2021 (Abdallah and Lee, 2021).

Several recent studies have shown that a significant proportion of HCPs are hesitant about COVID-19 vaccination. The study conducted by Verger et al. (2020) among HCPs in Quebec, France, and Belgium in October and November 2020 showed that 43.8% of the HCPs surveyed would “certainly” take the COVID-19 vaccine, and 28.5% “probably”, which would be below the European Commission’s expectations in terms of vaccination coverage. In the United States, the report by Gharpure et al. (2021) showed that a median of 37.5% of the participating long-term care staff had accepted the first shot of COVID-19 vaccine (between mid-December 2020 and mid-January 2021), demonstrating a low response to the vaccination campaign by these healthcare workers.

The present study therefore focuses on Seventh Day Adventist School of Nursing at the beginning of the vaccination campaign, aiming to evaluate attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination and determinants of acceptance.

 

1.3       Objectives of the study

The main objective of the study is to assess the acceptance and attitudes of student nurses towards covid-19 vaccine in Seventh day Adventist school of nursing Ile-Ife, Osun State.

The following are the specific objectives of the study:

1. To examine the knowledge of student nurses towards COVID-19 vaccine in Seventh Day Adventist school of Nursing.
2. To evaluate the acceptance of student nurses towards COVID-19 vaccine in Seventh Day Adventist school of Nursing.
3. To examine the attitudes of student nurses towards COVID-19 vaccine in Seventh Day Adventist school of Nursing.

 

1.4       Research questions

1. To examine the knowledge of student nurses towards COVID-19 vaccine in Seventh Day Adventist school of Nursing?
2. To evaluate the acceptance of student nurses towards COVID-19 vaccine in Seventh Day Adventist school of Nursing?
3. To examine the attitudes of student nurses towards COVID-19 vaccine in Seventh Day Adventist school of Nursing?

 

1.5       Justification/ Significance of the study

As healthcare workers continue to remain on the frontline during the current pandemic (Chew et al., 2020a; Chew et al., 2020; Tan et al., 2020), countries have prioritized them to be the first to receive the vaccine (Sun et al., 2021). However, there have been increasing reports on hesitancy in receiving the vaccine among the general public in European countries (Lazarus et al., 2021). The willingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine among healthcare workers in Asia remains unknown. This multicenter, multinational study sought to examine healthcare workers’ willingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccination and their concerns regarding the vaccine and various factors responsible for hesitancy, if any. We also aimed to identify independent predictors of willingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Given reported reluctance among the global population to receive the vaccine (Lazarus et al., 2021), our findings may have implications for establishing

appropriate strategies to improve vaccination compliance among frontline healthcare workers.

Additionally, the result from this research will also help health workers to design relevant, persuasive health messages that will help change the people’s attitude on the acceptance of the Covid-19 vaccination and create more awareness on the situation of health care services in the country.

 

1.6       Scope of the study

This study was carried out on the acceptance and attitudes of student nurses towards covid-19 vaccine. The scope of the study was restricted to the Seventh Day Adventist School of Nursing Ile-Ife, Osun State.

 

1.7       Limitation of the study

Financial constraint– Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information.

Time constraint– The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

 

1.8       Definition of terms

Acceptance: Acceptance is the action of consenting to receive or undertake something offered.

Attitude: Attitude is a settled way of thinking or feeling about something.

Corona virus disease (COVID-19): Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a new virus. The disease causes respiratory illness (like the flu) with symptoms such as a cough, fever, and in more severe cases, difficulty breathing.

COVID‑19 vaccine: A COVID‑19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19).

Nursing student: A nursing student is an individual enrolled in a nursing program.

Vaccination: Vaccination is the treatment with a vaccine to produce immunity against a disease; inoculation.

Vaccine: A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe, its toxins, or one of its surface proteins.

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