A Snapshot in Time of COVID-19 Vaccination Hesitancy and Acceptance in Nurses, Nursing Students, and Faculty: Implications for Early Messaging

As the COVID-19 pandemic reached its second year, and vaccine mandates to return to work or school became a contested debate among leaders in health care organizations and universities, nursing academic and hospital leadership had to consider which health and safety requirements, including COVID-19 vaccines, were needed to return students, nurses, and nurse faculty to more typical clinical and classroom activities. In this context, this mixed-methods study surveyed and analyzed data from a large national sample of students, nurses, and faculty about their vaccine status, and reasons for their decisions to be vaccinated or not. Study findings point clearly to the need for better messaging in all public health campaigns, emphasizing the protection of others as the strongest predictor for vaccine uptake.