Experience with Pediatric Influenza Mass Immunization Clinics Karen

Experience with Pediatric Influenza Mass Immunization Clinics Karen Rea, MSN, RN, BC Kristin Kazem, CHES

History u u u Inova Health System: A large multihospital, integrated health system in Northern Virginia 10 years experience with adult immunizations in community & corporate setting 70, 000 adult vaccinations were given this year through our Fight the Flu campaign

Identification of need u u Decrease in availability of pediatric flu shots in physician office setting Difficulty of immunizing the siblings of high risk pediatric clients Requests at adult vaccination sites for pediatric flu shots CDC recommendation for immunization of 6 -23 month old infants

Planning u u Clinic Medical Protocol developed with Chief of Pediatrics, Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children Planning group v Inova Health. Source Department head & senior manager v Manager of Fight the Flu program v Fight the Flu Senior Wellness Nurse v Three Fight the Flu nurses with pediatric experience

A Challenge for Pediatric Sites. . u Unlike adult mass immunization clinics, pediatric clinics in Virginia are required to have a physician on site u This limits our ability to take a clinic into community settings

Clinic Sites u The Atrium at Inova Fairfax Hospital for u Inova Pediatric Lung Center u To facilitate immunization of siblings of their patients v Bi-weekly clinic on a day the office was not seeing many patients No appointment needed for either clinic Children v Next door to the emergency room v Pediatric house staff were on call in event of emergency or questions v Monthly clinics during October – January v

Operational Issues u u u Fee for 1 shot versus 2 shots Authorization to give consent Special consent form required for pediatric patients v Differing doses according to age v Need to return for 2 nd immunization Notification of primary care physician of immunization How to handle the post-immunization waiting period

Advertising the Clinics u u Letter sent to all area pediatric, OB/GYN and family practices Message on our Fight the Flu telephone hotline Memo in the Inova employee newsletter Decision made not to advertise in media at same time as our regular adult flu clinics, to avoid confusion over where children could be vaccinated

Statistics u Total number of immunizations: 421 v Ages 6 – 35 months: 109 (26%) ü ü Ages 3 – 9 years: 111 (26%) v Ages 9 -18: 67 (16%) v Adult: 134 (32%) Physician practices represented: 27 No adverse reactions were note v u u 6 -23 months 79 (19%) 24 -35 months: 30 (7%)

Challenges During the Clinics u u Sniper attacks during the early weeks of the campaign Unusually early snow storm requiring cancellation of 1 clinic in early December Number of forms needed for families with multiple children Reminding parents to bring their child back for the 2 nd immunization

For Next Year. . . u u u Change clinic focus to “Family” immunizations Conduct clinics at all 4 Inova Hospitals, not just the children’s hospital Advertise clinics along with regular clinic dates/locations Collect data on ethnic background Collect written data on whether this was the first flu shot Reminder cards about 2 nd immunization dates

u u Kristin Kazem, Manager, Adult Vaccination Program v kristin. kazem@inova. com v 703 -208 -2632 Karen Rea, Senior Wellness Nurse v karen. rea@inova. com v 703 -204 -3360 2832 Juniper Street Fairfax, VA 22031