Connor Jean A, Fynn-Thompson Francis, Horgan James J, Luff Donna, Hickey Patricia A, Ward Valerie L
Cardiovascular, Critical Care and Perioperative, Patient Services, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass.
Department of Cardiac Surgery.
Pediatr Qual Saf. 2023 Apr 10;8(2):e643. doi: 10.1097/pq9.0000000000000643. eCollection 2023 Mar-Apr.
Underrepresented populations historically underserved by the healthcare system and/or marginalized by systematic policies regionally and nationally were particularly vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic. While vaccine hesitancy has been described among hospital employees, the employees' experiences from an underrepresented population cohort have not been reported. We, therefore, sought to understand employees' vaccine experiences, hesitancy, and ways to enhance ongoing COVID-19 vaccine education and communication to build a hospital-wide culture of vaccine acceptance.
We invited interprofessional staff from 5 clinical departments to participate in qualitative focus groups. Guiding questions were used to explore the experiences and perceptions of the staff. Using content analysis, we identified themes and recommendations for improvement.
We conducted 5 focus group sessions with over 50 participants. Four themes emerged; "Vaccine Fears Past and Present," "Access to Information," "Worries for Families," and "Our Hospital is a Trusted Name." Participants also provided recommendations for improvement in the messaging around the vaccine rollout. Consideration of how different employees access information, listening to staff needs, and recognizing the role of race and history were critical to engaging and improving the underrepresented employees' vaccine acceptance.
Exploring the concerns and fears of the COVID-19 vaccine within groups of underrepresented staff members through qualitative methods was key to understanding their vaccine hesitancy and implementing strategies to move toward vaccine acceptance in the hospital.
历史上在医疗保健系统中服务不足和/或在地区和国家层面被系统性政策边缘化的人群在新冠疫情期间尤其脆弱。虽然医院员工中存在疫苗犹豫现象，但尚未有关于代表性不足人群队列中员工经历的报道。因此，我们试图了解员工的疫苗接种经历、犹豫态度以及加强正在进行的新冠疫苗教育和宣传的方法，以营造全院范围内接受疫苗的文化氛围。
我们邀请了5个临床科室的跨专业工作人员参加定性焦点小组讨论。使用指导性问题来探索工作人员的经历和看法。通过内容分析，我们确定了主题和改进建议。
我们进行了5次焦点小组会议，有50多名参与者。出现了四个主题：“过去和现在的疫苗恐惧”、“信息获取”、“对家人的担忧”以及“我们医院是一个值得信赖的名字”。参与者还就疫苗推出的信息传递提出了改进建议。考虑不同员工获取信息的方式、倾听员工需求以及认识到种族和历史的作用对于吸引和提高代表性不足员工对疫苗的接受度至关重要。
通过定性方法探索代表性不足的工作人员群体对新冠疫苗的担忧和恐惧，是理解他们的疫苗犹豫态度并实施在医院推动疫苗接受度的策略的关键。
