Covid-19 vaccine confidence and hesitancy in nursing students and faculty at a large academic medical center

Abstract

Background: Little is known about nursing faculty and nursing student's confidence or potential hesitancy to receive the Covid-19 vaccine once it was available.

Methods: An anonymous electronic survey of nursing students and faculty was conducted at a large academic center in the eastern U.S.

Findings: Both students and faculty reported they were fairly or completely confident that the vaccine was safe (n = 235, 89.4%) and that it would effectively mitigate their risk (n = 230, 87.5%). There was a 52.6% decrease in vaccine hesitancy from 6 months prior (p <.01); 22% (n = 58) of those currently willing to receive the vaccine reported moderate to high concern about its side-effects and/or long-term efficacy. Access to vaccine research, vaccine education, and watching others be inoculated, had mitigated their concerns from the previous six months.

Discussion: While both nursing students and faculty reported having high confidence in the efficacy and safety of the Covid-19 vaccine, concerns remained.

Keywords: Covid-19; Nursing faculty; Nursing students; Vaccine hesitancy.