A Cross-sectional Study to Assess the Awareness and Practices Related to Adult Immunization Among Nursing Students in a Metropolitan City

Introduction: Immunization against vaccine-preventable diseases in adults is the need of the hour. The student nurses by virtue of training are the frontline health workers dealing with patient care. They are exposed to maximum risk of contracting the diseases. Vaccine awareness is not a part of their induction training program. It is necessary to plan preventive measure related to vaccination in their interest.

Aim: This study aims to assess awareness and practices of nursing students related to adult immunization.

Materials And Methods: It is a cross-sectional study, conducted on nursing students of School of Nursing in Mumbai, over a period of 4 months. Universal sampling technique was used. Sample size was 271. A semi-structured interview schedule was used for data collection. Data were analyzed in Microsoft Excel.

Results: The awareness about the vaccines was as follows: hepatitis B (98.1%), hepatitis A (72.3%), rabies (90.4%), H1N1 (74.9%), dT (52%), meningococcal (33.6%), human papillomavirus (49.8%), vaccines during pregnancy (88.2%), varicella (76.4%), typhoid (54.6%), cholera (52.8%), rubella (79.7%), travel vaccines (63.5%), Japanese encephalitis (69%), haemophilus influenzae b (40.9%), and pneumococcal (43.5%). About 87.8% of students have received TT at 10 years of age and 83% have received TT at 16 years of age. Hepatitis B vaccine was taken by 64.5%, out of which only 35% students received complete three doses. Majority of them could not answer the correct doses, availability, and cost of these vaccines.

Conclusions: The awareness and practices about adult immunization are found to be inadequate. Nurses should be appraised about theory and practical aspect of immunization as an immediate solution. Furthermore, considering the importance of this topic, the induction training program of nursing students should include awareness on adult immunization and emphasize their own vaccination. The annual health checkup of students should ensure the compliance of vaccines such as hepatitis B.