Covid-19 Vaccine Recommendation Opinions of Nursing/midwifery Students to Women of Reproductive Age

Abstract

Abstract Nursing and midwifery students are an important resource in increasing COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among women of reproductive age. In this study, it was aimed to determine the thoughts of midwifery and nursing senior students to recommend COVID-19 vaccine to women of reproductive age and related factors. The data of the cross-sectional study were collected from 504 midwifery and nursing senior students across Türkiye between March 15th - April 30th, 2022, using the "Individual Identification Form", "Vaccine Opinion Form" and "Scale of Attitudes towards COVID-19 Vaccine" in the online environment with snowball sampling method. Data were evaluated with t test, chi-square analysis, correlation analysis, ANOVA, logistic regression, and decision tree analysis. Of the students, 84.3% were women, 50.2% were in the nursing department, and 97.6% had at least two doses of COVID-19 vaccine. While 44.4% of the students stated that they would not recommend vaccination to any of the women that pregnant, breastfeeding and planning to pregnancy, 22.6% reported that they could recommend the COVID-19 vaccine to all three groups. Students who thought they could be counselled on vaccines and had received a previous flu shot were more likely to recommend a COVID-19 vaccine, while students who did not find vaccines safe and believed they could be harmful and did not receive adequate training on vaccines were less likely to recommend vaccines. Counselling self-efficacy of students was affected by education and up-to-date information. It is recommended to develop knowledge and counselling skills so that nursing and midwifery students can recommend COVID-19 vaccine to women of reproductive age.