Improving Employee Influenza Vaccination Rates

Skilled nursing facilities report low compliance rates of employees receiving the influenza vaccination. Skilled nursing facilities have different compliance standards for mandatory vaccination. Employees who do not receive the vaccine may put residents in skilled nursing facilities at an increased risk of contacting influenza, potentially resulting in increased mortality rates and hospitalizations. Improving vaccine rates and establishing protocols for non-compliant interprofessional staff in these facilities may lead to a decrease in illness and death in the elderly nursing home population. The purpose of this quality improvement (QI) project was to investigate if education regarding influenza vaccines had aided in improving nursing home employee vaccine compliance rates.