Vaccination is an essential element in disease prevention and control especially among older persons 65 years and older. For this reason, it is vital for a registered nurse (RN) to enlighten the elderly concerning the essence of vaccination. This is because the prevalence of pneumococcal disease remains high with approximately half a million cases reported annually ( Norris, Vahratian & Cohen, 2017) . Since RNs cannot work alone in a campaign to enlighten the elderly on the importance of vaccinations, collaborating with other stakeholders is highly recommendable. In the collaboration process, nurses may take the leading and reporting role. The approach will also create awareness in the community and a scenario in which people will encourage the elderly within their neighborhoods to attend vaccination programs.
For the older population who have already started their vaccination program, it is essential to work with outpatient services, hospital, long term care administrations, and assisted living to track their vaccination records and ensure that there is effective follow-up on the vaccination. Such a strategy is crucial if the elderly are to follow a routine vaccination program. There is the need to obtain immunization history when the elderly are admitted to a hospital (Hodgins, 2019) . The data will help an RN to determine if the cause of hospitalization is related to a disease that could have been prevented through routine vaccination. Moreover, tracking these cases will assist the RN to gather information regarding the trends in certain diseases that can be prevented through vaccination. In that regard, there is the need to maintain a close relationship with hospitals so that they can provide vital information concerning the elderly populace.
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In collaboration with other RNs, a registered nurse can organize campaigns that encourage routine vaccination of the elderly. The nursing practitioner’s vaccination campaign efforts could also include other organizations and the community in a bid to emphasize the importance of routine immunization. For instance, a group of RNs can convince advertisers such as media houses to promote a vaccination program for the elderly population. When this information becomes popular in a target area, it can be assumed that the number of older people participating in vaccination programs would surge ( Michel & Maggi, 2019) . Thus, the RNs will achieve individual targets in terms of the number of older people participating in vaccination programs. Additionally, the intervention could develop a trend that becomes a routine for older adults to be vaccinated just like in the case of young children and infants.
Improved level of routine vaccination among older adults is vital to the community since it allows the elderly to live free of diseases that could have otherwise been prevented through vaccination. As a result, communities will be healthier with reduced cases of certain diseases such as the prevalent pneumococcal disease. Financially and economically, this will save a lot of funds directed towards treatment and control of these preventable diseases.
Vaccination of older adults leads to the elimination and eradication of certain diseases. Therefore, vaccination is essential to the community since some of diseases such as flu and other airborne diseases or contagious. When these diseases are eradicated from a community, people living in the locale are at a lower risk of contracting the diseases as compared to areas experiencing high prevalence of airborne diseases ( Lankester & Grills, 2019) . Moreover, the community will have higher controls of morbidity and mortality resulting from diseases that could have otherwise been mitigated or eradicated through vaccination. World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that vaccinations prevent over 6 million deaths globally. It also reduces complications that could lead to long term health issues. For this reason, vaccination has all the benefits that can make a community healthier and happier.
References
Hodgins, B. (2019). Better protection from influenza in the elderly with a plant-derived virus-like particle vaccine: Novel approaches in an aged mouse model . Montreal: McGill University Libraries.
Lankester, T., & Grills, N. J. (2019). Setting up community health programmes in low and middle income settings . Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Norris, T., Vahratian, A.. & Cohen, R. A. (2017). Vaccination coverage among adults aged 65 and over, United States, 2015 . Hyattsville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, 2017.
Michel, J.-P., & Maggi, S. (2019). Adult Vaccinations: Changing the Immunization Paradigm . Cham: Springer International Publishing.
