Healthcare Personnel Please STOP.
We respectfully ask that, if you are a healthcare professional and you haven't taken our pretest, please do so before reading the preliminary data.
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The VAERS Project sought to ascertain the level of knowledge healthcare personnel had about VAERS. A preliminary survey was initiated in May 2022. By mid July, there were one hundred (100) voluntary responses from nurses in Indiana.
The cohort included Licensed Practical Nurses, Registered Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, and Certified Nurse Midwives. However, Registered Nurses made up the vast number of respondents at eighty-eight percent (88%). |
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Demographics related to profession were collected to better understand the perspective of respondents. Forty-four percent (44%) of the nurses reported working in acute care hospital settings and the remaining fifty-six percent (56%) work throughout other areas of inpatient/outpatient care as well as outside direct patient care. Eighty-five percent (85%) reported they had worked in healthcare for ten (10) years or more. Fifty-three percent (53%) reported they held the responsibility of administering vaccinations as part of their job duties.
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The results of the survey were shocking. The VAERS Project asked “Are you aware of VAERS?” Six percent (6%) reported they had not heard of it, twenty-six percent (26%) reported they heard the name but weren’t aware of much more. Sixty-eight percent (68%) reported they were aware and had a working knowledge.
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When asked if they knew where to file a VAERS report sixty-seven percent (67%) reported they did not know. Those who answered ‘yes’ were asked to list where they would report. Fourteen percent (14%) answered correctly citing the VAERS website, ten percent (10%) did not provide a location, four percent (4%) reported they would use the CDC website, five percent (5%) admitted they would need to search or ask for help. While the CDC co-administers VAERS, their website does not contain VAERS reporting. A staggering seventy-six percent (76%) of nurses do not know where to file a report, despite sixty-eight percent (68%) of respondents claiming to have a working knowledge of VAERS in a previous question.
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If nurses don’t know where to go to report, how can they be expected to know how or what to file a report on?
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Further, thirty percent (30%) of respondents answered incorrectly when asked if healthcare providers were legally required to report some AE.
These numbers strongly indicate that most Indiana nurses do not have a working knowledge of VAERS. |
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The survey then asked, “Have you ever encountered a patient under your care who experienced an adverse reaction (AR).”
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The revelation of this question exposing thirty-five percent (35%) of nurses have potentially cared for a patient who incurred a vaccine AR, and it was not reported or investigated.
Other notable statistics from the survey include:
Ninety-two percent (92%) of nurses reported their employer did NOT provide VAERS education.
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Ten percent (10%) of nurses reported they had previously made a VAERS report.
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Fourteen percent (14%) of nurses reported they have been discouraged from making a VAERS report.
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Eighty-five percent (80%) believed that VAERS collects less than twenty-five percent (25%) of AEs. thirty percent (30%) reported they believed it to be less than one percent (<1%).
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After reviewing the preliminary data the VAERS project determined that moving forward with education for healthcare personnel was imperative. Please note, the VAERS project aims to educate all healthcare personnel. Educating the interdisciplinary team will only assist in breaking down barriers to AE identification, treatment, and reporting, even though only ‘healthcare providers’ are legally required to make a VAERS report. “Healthcare Providers” as defined by the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (1986 NCVIA) “means any licensed health care professional, organization, or institution, whether public or private (including Federal, State, and local departments, agencies, and instrumentalities) under whose authority a vaccine set forth in the Vaccine Injury Table is administered.
We look forward to the continue development of data from the pre and post tests of those completing this education. Please continue to share this program with your colleagues, encouraging them to participate.
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