(HealthDay News) — A nurse-driven protocol for improving pneumococcal vaccination rates in immunosuppressed patients is associated with significant increases in vaccination rates, according to a study published online Dec. 1 in The Journal of Rheumatology.
Elena K. Joerns, MD, from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, and colleagues assessed the feasibility of implementing a nurse-driven pneumococcal vaccination protocol in an academic rheumatology clinic. Vaccination rates were compared for 2019 versus postimplementation in 2021.
The researchers found that creating a pneumococcal vaccination protocol as a standing medical order to be implemented by the nursing staff was associated with a significant increase in the average rate of monthly vaccination with either pneumococcal conjugate vaccine or pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (4.3% in 2019 to 12.6% in 2021). Similarly, the proportion of patients who were fully vaccinated increased from 14.6 to 26.2%.
“In people who take immunosuppressant drugs to treat chronic inflammatory conditions, pneumococcal infections are more likely to be severe due to the weakened immune system. These patients often don’t have a lot of time during their clinic visits because they’re dealing with other complex issues, and there is a lack of awareness and knowledge about these vaccines,” Joerns said in a statement. “Our data showed that this protocol, which shifts vaccination to be standardized and done as part of patient check-in, allows vaccination to be completed more efficiently and effectively.”
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