Nursing and vaccination

Antonio Arribas Cachá

Abstract

Vaccination of the population is one of the most relevant public health interventions, together with water treatment, which has saved the lives of millions of people throughout history and is perhaps the only effective pharmacological action in the control of infectious diseases caused by viruses.

At present, and on the occasion of the COVID19 pandemic, this reality has become evident in the entire population, anxiously awaiting the existence of a vaccine preparation against this coronavirus that makes it possible to return to the "normality" of life that existed before its dissemination.

But vaccination is a long and complex process, composed of numerous phases, in which it is necessary to be extremely cautious and strict in the development of all of them in order to obtain the desired results.

Within these phases, the act of vaccination is the one that allows the culmination of this intervention, which may erroneously lead one to think that this phase is the exclusive act of administering the vaccine preparation.

This vaccination act is defined as a set of processes and techniques that are applied from the moment the professional comes into contact with the user until he/she has verified the safe administration of the vaccine.

The professional in charge of the vaccination of the population must assume competences before the vaccination act, during the vaccination act and after the vaccination act.

Before the vaccination act, the professional should adopt the epidemiological measures established to guarantee its existence for the administration to the population, and the maintenance of the antigenic properties of the vaccine until the moment of its application: cold chain, transport, storage, handling, use and disposal according to its expiration date.

During the act of vaccination, the necessary measures should be taken to ensure the greatest efficacy and safety of the vaccination:

- Review of the vaccination history.

- Pre-vaccination screening to determine the vaccination status of the person and the detection of possible contraindications, reactions or side effects and special situations that could interfere with vaccination.

- Information of the vaccine, characteristics, side effects and action to parents/guardians, as well as useful relief measures after drug administration in a child. Parents should receive complete and understandable information about vaccines and verbally express acceptance of proposed vaccinations.

- Preparation of medication and material to respond to a possible immediate adverse reaction (hypothymia, syncope, anaphylaxis).

- Preparation and checking of vaccine (expiry date, type, ...) and material for vaccination.

- Implementation of the vaccination according to the most appropriate technique in each case, taking into account the characteristics and routes of administration of the vaccine and the characteristics of the person, as well as the simultaneous administration of multiple vaccines in the same vaccination act.

- Vigilance in the appearance of incidences during the administration of the vaccines that could suggest their interruption.

After the vaccination:

- Immediate care. Observation in the waiting room for a certain period of time after vaccine administration to detect possible immediate adverse reactions.

- Management of mild and severe adverse effects: pharmacovigilance.

- Scheduling immunizations at appropriate intervals.

For this reason, the development of this phase of vaccination requires knowledge and skills both in the technical areas related to vaccines and in the human areas related to the health of the person, which explains why Nursing is recognized as the reference discipline for the implementation of vaccination through the act of vaccination.

In addition, it is necessary to take into account that the factors influencing vaccination are continuously evolving, both naturally (appearance of mutations, new strains, immune response, ...), as a result of technological advances (new systems for manufacturing and obtaining vaccines, ...) or as a result of new knowledge through research. This means that knowledge is tremendously dynamic and changing in vaccinology and requires continuous updating of nursing professionals in this field.

Antonio Arribas Cachá