Performance of the nursing team in the vaccintion of institutionalized elderly patients: case report of a town in vale do aço

o caso de um município da região do vale do aço

Abstract

Elderly vaccination aims to reduce the indexes of morbidity and mortality by infectious diseases, ensuring quality of life, wellbeing and social inclusion. This study aims to identify the vaccines offered to the elderly by the current immunization schedule, the frequency of assessment of immunization record cards and the advantages and disadvantages of vaccinations for institutionalized elderly, according to the views of the nursing team. We carried out a qualitative and exploratory research with interviews to 25 professionals (8 nurses and 17 nursing technicians). Data analysis showed that 87.5% of the nurses (n=7) knew about the vaccines offered by the elderly immunization schedule and all nurses (n=8) answered the questions as recommended by the Ministry of Health for periodicity of the assessment of the card and the advantages of this practice for this population. However, when the same questions were asked to nursing assistants/technicians, 76.5% (n=13) reported only one of these vaccines, 65% (n=11) knew about the frequency of assessment of the immunization card and 89% (n=15) said there were advantages in this practice. Finally, when asked about which professional should administer vaccines in elderly institutions, 7 nurses (87.5%) and 10 assistants/technicians (59%) believed that anyone from the nursing team was able to accomplish the duty. We conclude that it is important to emphasize the relevance of the nursing professional as a coordinator/supervisor of the health unit. We believe that the program of "continuing education" should receive special attention in order to keep the health team updated and thus contribute to improve the quality of the attention provided to this population.