Although the Department of Health states that the actions of
nurses who administer vaccines “under the plan or order of the health
authority, their actions shall be treated as if done under the guidance of a
physician or in accordance with a physician’s prescription” (Jui-Chu &
Wang, 2008, p.2). One nurse who administered a routine vaccine to
a child, was prosecuted after the child died on the basis that she did not have
an individual order for the vaccine prior to administration. In this case, the
nurse was not found liable for the child’s death but guilty of malpractice
because she did not thoroughly assess the patient prior to administration.
While it is legal for nurses to vaccinate without the individual order of a
physician, nurses should be aware of the legal responsibility. If vaccine
compliance is the goal, there should be laws that protect the nurses in these
circumstances.
The impact that a population of unvaccinated people will
have on the field of nursing and health care in general, is far-reaching and
complicated. The loss of herd immunity will result in an increase in
preventable diseases that many nurses do not have any experience treating.
There will be a definite need for nursing curriculum to include more
information on diseases like polio, measles, mumps, rubella, etc. With the risk
of disease transmission, it is possible that there might be a need for
hospitals that are specialized to exclusively treat these diseases.
When properly informed, patients are
far more likely to be vaccinated (Colson et al., 2012). Nurses play a big role
in encouraging patients to be vaccinated and have the ability to create an
informed society. Effective teaching by nurses can bring vaccine compliance up
to ninety-six percent and herd immunity can be achieved. In order to do so, it
is imperative that nurses receive proper vaccine education.
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