Grant: Operating Grant: Health Systems Research on H1N1

Keeping nurses and doctors working during the H1N1 flu pandemic is essential. A key to protecting health workers is the H1N1 flu vaccination. However, the number of health care workers who get the flu vaccine falls well below the public health target of 90%. In most years at The Ottawa Hospital (TOH), approximately 50% of health care workers get the flu shot. This year at TOH a mass H1N1 vaccination campaign was launched, yet only 70% of health care workers received the vaccine. Thus, 30% of staff were not vaccinated despite the aggressive vaccination campaign and the knowledge that the vaccine is the most effective means of reducing the impact of H1N1 within health care organizations and on patients. So, why do health care workers refuse flu vaccinations? It is likely that the greatest obstacles to vaccine uptake among health care workers are their knowledge and attitudes about H1N1 and the H1N1 vaccine. The goal of the proposed study is to identify the barriers to H1N1 vaccine uptake among health care workers in order to design and implement a more effective vaccine campaign that addresses these barriers. We will examine health care workers' motivation to receive the H1N1 vaccine or refuse the vaccine, as well as why some health care workers got the H1N1 vaccine this year when they did not get the flu vaccine last year. By understanding the fundamental reasons why a core group of health care workers refuse vaccination despite perceived vaccine shortage and national media hype, we can develop a vaccine campaign to increase the number of health care workers getting vaccinated. This study will impact the local and national H1N1 vaccine campaign strategy and implementation targeted at health care workers and will be the foundation to improve the number of staff receiving the H1N1 vaccine and other flu vaccines at TOH and beyond. It is hoped that this will help health care workers stay healthy and reduce the impact of H1N1 on health care organizations and patients.