Doctor of Nursing Practice Program

• Committee Chair Name & Credentials:
  Sharon M. Karp, PhD, APRN, CPNP-PC, FAANP
 

 

DNP Project Abstract

HPV Champions: Initiate and Vaccinate at 9 Years

Purpose
Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccination rates continue to lag behind those of other adolescent vaccinations. Clinical staff influence parental decision-making about vaccination initiation, along with provider recommendations. HPV vaccination has a higher efficacy and completion rate when initiated for patients nine years and older. This quality improvement project aimed to measure the knowledge and attitudes of clinical staff and increase HPV vaccination knowledge over one month.

Methods
A group of 26 clinical staff were invited to participate in the project. Participants were asked to take a pre-survey before viewing an educational presentation about HPV vaccination. A post-survey was then administered. Of eligible participants, 16 staff members completed the pre-survey, and 13 completed the post-survey. De-identified aggregate data are then compiled to compare pre-and post-survey information.

Results
Results showed that participants had high knowledge and support of HPV vaccination in the pre-survey, but an increase was noted in some post-survey results. Overall, parental support for vaccination at nine years was underestimated by clinical staff. Clinical staff did express an increase in their comfort with addressing concerns about HPV vaccination and strongly agreed with feeling comfortable answering questions about the vaccine in post-surveys.

Implications for Practice
This project supports that clinical staff are key players in the success of HPV vaccination. There is a need for broader training of the entire clinical and non-clinical office staff for facilities offering the vaccination. Tracking of HPV rates and accurate reporting of these rates will be beneficial in measuring the success of quality improvement projects related to HPV vaccination.