Nurses' attitude to seasonal influenza vaccination in primary care outpatient clinics : a qualitative study

Objective: To explore the attitude of nurses towards seasonal influenza vaccination (SIV) in primary care outpatient clinics in Hong Kong Design: A qualitative study. Subjects: Primary care nurses at 11 primary care outpatient clinics in the New Territories West cluster of the Hong Kong Hospital Authority. Main outcome measures: Vaccination status in the Hospital Authority 2018/2019 SIV programme, views on perceived susceptibility and severity of influenza, effectiveness and risk of SIV and views on SIV provision. Results: Twenty nurses participated in the study. The key motivating factor for vaccination was a strong belief on the effectiveness of vaccination. The major factor deterring vaccination was a strong belief on alternative measures to prevent influenza other than vaccination. The unvaccinated nurses had more fear of the side-effects of the vaccination, although they accepted the scientific evidence supporting SIV safety. The current SIV provision at workplace was practically barrier-free, but there were concerns with personal data privacy. Mandatory SIV campaign was opposed. Conclusions: There are varied attitudes of the nurses towards SIV amongst the unvaccinated and vaccinated nurses in primar y care clinics. Further directions of repackaging the SIV campaign might focus on respecting personal privacy and autonomy, emphasising patient protection with vaccination, and the peer-driven culture of vaccination.