Answer

Education Program to Promote Immunization Coverage Rate

One of the vital roles of healthcare providers is the promotion of the community’s health and wellbeing. Immunisation is one of the strategies which has been deployed by public health officials in the quest to prevent the spread of an infectious condition and the reduction of both mortality and morbidity rates (Chu & Englund, 2014). Vaccines have proved useful in the reduction of the risk of infection as they work with the body’s natural defences in helping develop immunity to disease and thus fight the infection. The aspect of vaccination involves inducing a feeble strain of disease into someone’s body which later develops and modifies itself providing the individual with immunity against the infection (ATAGI, 2018). The scientific modification has come to aid in solving the problem of various contagious and dreadful illnesses that may cause severe harm to a person body. One of the areas where the immunisation coverage rate needs improvement in Australia is pertussis immunisation during pregnancy. Notably, although pertussis is preventable via vaccination of expectant mothers, only a small population of women are immunised from the condition (Pillsbury, Quinn, & McIntyre, 2014). As a result, pregnant women have left themselves at the danger of contracting whooping cough and even passing them to their newborn babies. As such, educating the women on the importance of pertussis immunization is vital to ensuring their protection as well as those of the unborn babies.

Reasons for Improvement of Immunization of Coverage Rate

The improvement of immunisation coverage rate for pertussis in expectant mothers is based on the significant number of women who miss out on the crucial vaccine and thus end up contracting whooping cough and endangering their health and wellbeing as well as those of the unborn babies (Beard, 2015). Notably, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) (2018), although the vaccination of pregnant mothers against whooping cough covers over 90 per cent, the vaccination rates vary with the area that the pregnant mothers live. Expectant women living in the rural and remote Australia have low levels of immunisation which endangers the lives of the mothers and those of the babies they carry (Baxter et al., 2017). Despite an established vaccination program being established, cases of diagnosis whooping cough are not uncommon. For instance, in 2016 a reported 20,106 cases of whooping cough were reported affecting 1in 33 of infants of under 12 months (AIHW, 2018). Additionally, in the same year, 445 hospital admission of whooping cough were reported with one-third of those being of children aged under one year. Deaths arising from the failure of the expectant women to get immunised were 291 in the years between 1910 and 1942 and 2 per year in the last 20 years (Carcione et al., 2015). As such, it is vital to educate pregnant women on the importance of the immunisation to protect themselves and children who are the future of Australian society.

Focus on To Immunization Coverage Rate

Expectant mothers and the unborn babies, as well as infants under 12 months, are the ones at risk for whooping cough if expectant mothers are not immunised with the pertussis vaccine (dTpa) during their pregnancy. Notably, a majority of the cases of whooping cough which is prevented by the pertussis vaccine (dTpa) have been reported in children under one year (Pillsbury, Quinn, & McIntyre, 2014). As such, the immunization will have its principal focus on the pregnant women who will be educated on the importance of ensuring that they get the  pertussis vaccine (dTpa); a single dose which is given during the second or third trimester of each of the pregnancies as well as pregnancies which are closely spaced such as those happing in less than 2 years from each other (Baxter et al., 2017). Vaccinated mothers will have reduced risks of catching whooping cough and even passing it to the newborn babies. Notably, parents are one of the familiar sources of whooping cough infection for children aged 12 months and under. As such, focusing on expectant women especially in rural and remote Australia is key to increased the rates of immunisation and reducing cases of death arising from whooping cough.

The Poster

Purpose

The principal purpose of the poster will be to increase the awareness of pregnant mothers in rural and remote Australia about the importance of pertussis vaccination in the prevention of whooping cough. The decision on the use of a poster was based on its ability to be catchy and attract the attention of the public. Additionally, a poster will provide a summary of essential information about the importance of the vaccination. In the project, the project members will deploy words and phrases which are not only attractive but also appealing and persuasive to the pregnant mothers (Collins et al., 2014). Moreover, image and picture of pregnant women will be used to provide the target population with a clear view of the people who need to get immunised.

Description

The poster will use red colour in the heading to draw the attention of the target population as to why they need to read the poster. Additionally, some tender colours will be used to ensure that expectant women can easily understand the advertisement. For instance, black will be used to highlight the importance of vaccination. A clear picture of pregnant women will be used to create the connection between the immunisation in question and the target population.

Target

            The population targeted by the poster will be clearly stated in the poster as well reasons as to why they should consider acquiring the pertussis vaccine (dTpa) without fail. Additionally, having a picture of pregnant women will make it clear from the onset of the population which will be targeted by the awareness program. Using words with visible font sizes and a picture depicting the target population will make it clear as to the people who should be the audience of the posters.

Reflection Using Rolfe’s Reflective Model

What?

In the quest to increase awareness and education among pregnant women on the importance of pertussis, I researched on the threat posed by a lack of such immunisation to expectant women and children. Additionally, after identifying the target population, I engaged in the process of preparing an educational program using a poster. In the poster for the creation of awareness, I ensured that I drew the attention of pregnant women about whooping cough and the manner in which it affects their health and those of unborn babies (Pillsbury, Quinn, & McIntyre, 2014). Additionally, I used contrasting colours in the poster. The red colour was used to create an alarm and urgency and provide the target population with the reasons as to why they should make it a priority for them to get the pertussis vaccine. I prepared an informative and educative poster which provided the information about whooping cough and the reasons as to why expectant mothers should not miss the importance of pertussis immunisation (Laenen et al., 2015). However, I would like to improve on how I work with teammates as I found it hard to gain consensus on some of the crucial aspects of the creation of the poster.

During the working period, I had the opportunity of being the team leader among my group members. Being the leader, I had the responsibility of guidance, instructing, and providing leadership to accomplish our goal (Mohamad, 2010). Having the responsibility of being the team leader, I ensured our eyes were set on the target — the project provided maximum immunisation of the expectant mothers and the creation of awareness about whooping cough. The response we received concerning the project was excellent. It was a response felt by the group members and the general public as a whole. In the beginning, the task seemed unachievable due to some delays, disagreements, and miscommunication from some team members. However, as the leader, I took the responsibility in consulting the relevant stakeholders of the project and allocation of tasks to the group members according to capabilities.

So What?

Literature shows that the use of posters is one of the effective ways to create awareness and publicity on important aspects of public health. I followed the various guidelines in the preparation of the poster. In specific, the project followed the relevant National Immunization Education Framework for Health Professionals guidelines provided in the National Immunization Education Framework for Health Professionals according to Howard, Walls, Bell, and Mounier-Jack (2018). The framework aided in understanding the Immunization program, the innovative workforce behind the program, the moral required in the teaching and learning process, mode of service delivery and finally the need to promote health literacy (Isaacs, 2012). Through the framework, the core objective of achieving high-quality Immunization programs will be delivered. My use of an appropriate front and simple language was vital in ensuring that the target population understands the message irrespective of their level of education and literacy (Collins et al., 2014).

The possible consequences of the education program are that it will increase the number of women who get whooping cough vaccination. Additionally, with the poster, the rates of infection of whooping cough for newborn babies from their parents will decrease. Notably, with increased vaccinations, the mothers and the babies will be prevented, and their health and wellbeing will be ensured (Laenen et al., 2015). Moreover, the rates of mortalities of children under the age of 12 months who die from whooping cough are expected to reduce with the project. Additionally, the health of the wider community will be ensured with healthy newborn babies and mothers. The Australian society will witness reduced costs of healthcare associated with the treatment of patients with whooping cough (Marshall et al., 2016). Increased awareness will be beneficial not only to the target audience but also to the entire Australia society.

What Next?

Based on the effects of the activities I undertook in the project and their consequences, there are things that I learned and things that I have to modify for better performance in future practice. Generally, the whole idea went according to plan, and functional results were obtained. I learned that, for an educational poster be effective, it ought to be persuasive and appealing to the target population (Baxter et al., 2017). Additionally, to ensure that a catchy and effective poster is created, teamwork is vital as different ideas and perspectives will be used to produce a poster which attains its purpose which is to increase awareness to the target population and increase the rates of immunisation cover.

To ascertain success in the upcoming projects, few things should be changed or modified. One of those is that I should plan early and use evidence-based practice. This strategy will ensure that there is a reserved time for working and in case of mistakes made there is adequate time for correction. Additionally, I will need to make a proper selection of the team members to make sure that the group is diverse. The nursing fraternity demand projects to be carried out by qualified individuals’ hence appropriate screening should be carried out on the relevant individuals to assure expertise (Valley 2013). Finally, on the issue of project leadership, the success of a specific project is based on the leader of the whole project hence, in this case, future leaders should be competent having vast experience, especially in nursing projects as argued by (Ljungblom and Lennerfors 2018).

The reflection on the immunisation program has helped me in my nursing career. It has helped me fully understand what it entails running nursing projects, learn elements of various situations that present themselves and what to expect next time. The encounter gives me confidence when such circumstances arise and also understand what it means when being a practising nurse on the ground.