The COVID-19 Vaccine Effort: How Nurses and CNAs Can Help
Are you eager to help end the pandemic by getting the pubic safely vaccinated?
AMN Healthcare and NurseFinders are actively seeking RNs, LPNs/LVNs and CNAs across a wide variety of skillsets and levels of experience to staff vaccination sites. Join us in the historic effort to vaccinate California and stop the spread of COVID-19.
Thankfully, case numbers throughout the United States are on a downward trend, and now the focus is shifting to vaccination efforts.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that vaccines are critical tools for ending the COVID-19 pandemic, and current guidelines encourage all types of healthcare workers to obtain a vaccine. Currently, there is no vaccine mandate for healthcare workers, but it is possible that there will be one in the future. Most healthcare facilities are currently making the vaccine voluntary for employees, but it is important to confirm this information with your workplace or contract facility.
Nurses’ Role In Building COVID-19 Vaccination Confidence
Nurses play a critical part in successful vaccination efforts by not just administering the shots, but also being ambassadors in the community and helping build vaccine confidence in the patient population.
“Strong confidence in the vaccines within communities leads to more people getting vaccinated, which leads to fewer COVID-19 illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths,” according to the CDC. “Become a vaccine ambassador by sharing accurate and timely information about COVID-19 vaccines and information on local vaccination efforts with the people who need it most.”
The CDC has a comprehensive COVID-19 vaccination resource page for healthcare providers with information on general vaccine administration, training and education, storage and handling, and much more.
The American Nurses Association (ANA) also stresses the importance of nurses’ role in educating the public on COVID-19 vaccinations.
“As trusted healthcare professionals, patients will look to nurses and pharmacists for reliable information about the COVID-19 vaccine(s). Demand for the vaccine will increase in line with increased confidence from the immunizing and healthcare professional community. Address patient concerns and hesitancy with transparency, accuracy, and empathy,” according to an ANA fact sheet on vaccine FAQs.
Three Vaccine Options: What’s New With COVID-19 Vaccines
As of March 16, 2021, there are three vaccines available that are authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and recommended by the CDC to prevent COVID-19:
- Pfizer-BioNTech
- Moderna
- Johnson & Johnson / Janssen
On February 28, the CDC released an official recommendation to use Johnson & Johnson’s/Janssen (J&J/Janssen) vaccine, which has been shown to be safe and effective in preventing severe COVID-19 illness, hospitalization, and death, and is different from the other vaccines for a few reasons:
- The J&J/Janssen vaccine protects against COVID-19 in one dose, not two.
- It can be stored at a standard refrigerator temperature instead of needing colder storage.
These two advantages can help the vaccine reach most communities and mobile sites with less problems than the other two options. Although the J&J/Janssen vaccine clinical trials showed a lower efficacy rate (66.3 percent) for preventing COVID-19 infection than the other vaccines, it was shown to be highly effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalization and death.
There are also several other vaccine candidates that are undergoing large-scale clinical trials. You can read more about upcoming vaccines by visiting clinicaltrials.gov.
Per Diem Opportunities At Vaccination Sites With Nursefinders
Healthcare systems, hospitals and clinics across the country are in need of qualified nurses and other healthcare workers to help out in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nursefinders is currently seeking vaccinators, vaccination assistants and medical supply clerks, in addition to other per diem jobs for a number of job openings in California. This is a unique opportunity to be a part of history and to truly make a difference.
LEARN MORE about these per diem jobs and GET CONNECTED with a recruiter today.
(For opportunities across the U.S., SEARCH ALL PER DIEM JOBS)
