"Vaccinate, Do Not Hesitate!". Vaccination Readiness against COVID-19 among Polish Nursing Undergraduate Students: A National Cross-Sectional Survey

Abstract

COVID-19 vaccination raises numerous concerns among the public, and also among medical personnel including nurses. As nurses play a crucial role in the process of vaccination, it is important to recognize the attitudes of students of nursing, nurses in spe, toward COVID-19 vaccination, as well as to define the factors influencing students' pro-vaccine choices. The study was conducted between March and April 2021 at all medical universities in Poland educating nurses in spe. The study included 793 first-degree students from 12 universities. The results revealed that the vast majority of students of nursing (77.2%) were vaccinated against COVID-19, as 61.2% received an mRNA vaccine and 16% a viral vector vaccine. Every other person in the non-vaccinated group declared their intention to get a vaccination. A trend was observed whereby people co-living with persons from the risk group, who are at risk of a severe form of COVID-19, showed greater willingness to get a vaccine. The study results identified the role of universities in increasing the vaccination rate among students, both in terms of education about vaccinations and in shaping pro-vaccine attitudes among students, as well as organizing vaccinations on university campuses to facilitate the process.

Keywords: COVID-19 vaccine; level of knowledge; nursing students; readiness; vaccine hesitancy.

Figure 1

Perception of the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines in groups with different levels of willingness to be vaccinated. Analysis of the mean level of trust in groups with different levels of willingness to be vaccinated (ANOVA): (A) F_{(2, 153)} = 21.415, p < 0.001; (B) F_{(2, 153)} = 25.902, p < 0.001; (C) F_{(2, 153)} = 15.840, p < 0.001; (D) F_{(2, 153)} = 17.349, p < 0.001.

Figure 2

Average frequency of using various vaccine information sources (0—never; 6—very often).