“Half of what you’ll learn in medical school will be shown to be either dead wrong or out of date within five years of your graduation; the most important thing to learn is how to learn,” said David Sackett, the father of evidence-based medicine.
With constantly changing medical knowledge, staying updated can seem nearly impossible. However, it’s crucial for healthcare workers to remain informed about the latest medical information to provide the highest quality care to their patients.
Affinia Healthcare, a Federally Qualified Health Center serving the St. Louis area, is committed to keeping its staff up to date on the latest health information. To uphold this commitment, on Tuesday, March 4th, Affinia Healthcare delayed opening all six clinics for its routine in-service meeting. This month’s focus was on vaccine education for its nursing staff. This is especially important as the low vaccination rate, combined with the rising number of measles cases across the United States, has put Missouri citizens at risk for the next outbreak.
“While we do not have any recorded measles cases in Missouri yet, it is knocking on our door,” said Lynelle Phillips, Vice President of the Missouri Public Health Association. “Roughly ¾ of our counties have less than 95 percent MMR vaccination rates for kindergartners. This means, once measles arrives and hits those counties, it will spread. Our providers need to be ready!”
During the in-service, guest speaker Dr. Kate Lichtenberg, board-certified in both Family and Preventive Medicine, emphasized the importance of educating parents about the threat of childhood diseases that can be reduced through vaccination.
Giavonna Buck, Affinia Health Care Clinic Director and registered nurse with 32 years of experience, highlighted the value of the vaccine training.
“[The in-service] gives us [narratives] to share when we’re talking about vaccine hesitancy and trying to encourage parents to get their kids vaccinated,” Buck said.
Dr. Lichtenberg discussed the concept of herd immunity with the nurses and the need to maintain high rates of vaccination. The CDC reports 94 percent of the measles cases in the United States involve both children and adults who are either unvaccinated or unaware of their vaccination status. She outlined strategies which enable nurses to connect with patients on a personal level, encourage informed decision-making and address hesitancy.
“[The in-service] definitely gives me insight on… how we can pursue [vaccine education] with more patients to make sure they’re vaccinated without making it forcible,” said Deja Hughes, a vaccine assistant at Affinia Health Care.
Affinia Health Care continues to prioritize improving its vaccination completion rates with their Community Vaccine Clinic at the Salvation Army Midtown Treatment Center. Free vaccines are available from 9 a.m. until noon on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. For more information, call 314-797-7486.
In support of increasing their vaccination rates, Affinia Health Care participates in the Vaccine Improvement Project for Children and Adolescents, a Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services funded initiative. This program, in partnership with University of Missouri, Washington University and the Missouri Immunization Coalition, provides practice facilitation and training to increase vaccination rates at the clinic level.
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