A complementary approach to the vaccination promotion continuum: An immunization-specific motivational-interview training for nurses

Aim: To develop and validate immunization-specific motivational-interview (MI) training for immunization nurses.

Background: We previously demonstrated that a MI-based intervention on immunisation, performed during postpartum by MI-trained healthcare workers at the hospital maternity ward, reduced parental vaccine hesitancy (VH) and increased vaccine coverage of their children. In this study, we propose immunization-specific MI training for immunization nurses. Together, MI-based training and interventions provide complementary approaches to existing strategies along the vaccination promotion continuum.

Design: Multiple pretest/posttest design with questionnaires self-administered before and after each training days (4 time points).

Methods: We developed an in-person immunization-specific MI-training workshop for immunization nurses, held on two days three months apart, with 7 h of MI-training dispensed on day 1, and 4 h on day 2. The self-administered Motivational Interviewing Skills in Immunization (MISI) questionnaire was used at four time points (before and after each of the 2 training days) to evaluate three core aspects of participant MI training: (1) MI-knowledge acquisition; (2) MI-skills application and (3) self-rated self-confidence in applying MI knowledge and skills in vaccination clinical practice. Between November 2016 to December 2017, 34 immunization nurses enrolled in our MI-training workshops.

Results: The immunization-specific MI-training improved the three core areas evaluated in participants i.e. MI-knowledge acquisition, MI-skills application, and self-rated self-confidence in applying these in vaccination clinical practice.

Conclusions: Our immunization-specific MI-training enabled immunization nurses to significantly improve MI knowledge, skills and self-confidence in applying MI in the clinic. These results, taken together with those on the MI-based intervention for parents that we previously reported, support the notion of proposing validated immunization-specific MI training for immunization nurses in order to curb parental VH.

Impact: Immunization-specific MI-training would be easily amenable for the training of other health professionals in the field of immunization to help promote vaccination and curb parental VH.