Nurses' vaccination acceptance and related factors in the initial stage of COVID-19 vaccination in Korea: a cross-sectional study

Purpose: This study aimed to identify factors associated with nurses' vaccination acceptance in the initial stage of coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination in Korea.Methods: This cross-sectional study collected data from hospital-level or higher medical institutions from May 5 to May 7, 2021 with a total of 368 nurses via an online survey. Multiple regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with vaccination acceptance.Results: The acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination had an average score of 4.28 ± 0.80 out of 7 points. Among the sub-areas of acceptance, the safety of the vaccine exhibited the lowest score (average, 2.80 ± 0.83). The factors related to COVID-19 vaccination acceptance in nurses were age (over 40 compared to under 29) (β = .16, p = .008), experience (more than 11 years compared to under 5) (β = .16, p = .010), the absence of a preferred vaccine (β = -.14, p = .004), and educational background (a master's degree or higher compared to a bachelor's degree or lower) (β = .12, p = .042).Conclusion: In the initial stage of COVID-19 vaccination, nurses believed that the COVID-19 vaccine was important and that people should be vaccinated, but had concerns regarding the safety of the vaccine. Older age, more experience, the absence of a preferred vaccine, and a higher educational background were associated with higher acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination. Therefore, more active education on the necessity and value of vaccination for young people is required at the individual and socio-cultural level, and a sufficient supply of preferred vaccines at the national level is needed.