Ethics Column: Resisting Vaccination: How Can Nurses Respond Ethically?

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggest that vaccinations given to children between 1994 and 2013 may have saved as many as 732,000 lives, as well as prevented 322 million illnesses and 21 million hospitalizations over the course of the children's lives (Balestra 2016T Additionally, vaccination is an important factor in containing healthcare and societal costs, saving an estimated $295 billion in healthcare costs and $1 38 trillion over all, through prevention of diseases, such as smallpox, polio, and measles (Balestra 2016) To protect the health of the public, all individuals should be immunized against vaccine-preventable diseases according to the best and most current evidence outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) Parents who refuse vaccinations based on religious and/or philosophical exemptions, however, incur increased risk of illness not only for their child, but also their communities (College of Physicians of Philadelphia, 2018) [ ]it is important for nurses and other health professionals to find ways to implement vaccine regulations to protect the greatest number of people without infringing on individual autonomy [ ]initiating a conversation with those who oppose vaccination about the reasons behind their wishes can help to create a dialogue to understand why they object to vaccination, clear up misinformation, and share the evidence science provides in favor of vaccinations