Date of Degree

12-2018

Document Type

Doctoral Project

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Program

Nursing

Advisor

Anna Castaneda Tabet

Advisor

Tamina Sami

Abstract

Pneumococcal vaccines are essential to children and adults. Having pneumococcal vaccines not only prevents pneumococcal infections but can also potentially lessen the severity of the disease. There are many scholarly articles attesting the herd effect in adults who received pneumococcal vaccines. Therefore, the purpose of this quality improvement project was to raise awareness of the pneumococcal vaccine and increase the vaccination rate in a primary care clinic in Texas. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s pneumococcal vaccination schedule was utilized as guide for vaccine administration. The staff and provider were educated on screening, documenting, and administering the pneumococcal vaccine to patients. Electronic reminders were implemented to flag those who qualified, and patient education was provided, regardless of their decision on receiving the vaccine. Retrospective chart review was conducted between January and May of 2018, to compare the results between pre- and postintervention. SPSS was utilized for statistical analysis. The results showed that out of 362 patients, 53 qualified for the pneumococcal vaccine. Only 21 (39.6%) of those patients received the vaccine, while the remainder 32 (60.4%) refused to be vaccinated. However, a few patients who had initially refused agreed to receive their pneumococcal vaccine during their follow-up visit. In conclusion, there was an increased awareness regarding pneumococcal infections and an increase in total number of patients who received the pneumococcal vaccine between pre- and postintervention. The study suggests that it is vital for providers to educate their patients about vaccinations, and appropriate follow-up is required to increase compliance.

Keywords: pneumococcal vaccine, pneumococcal infections, pneumonia

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