Attitudes towards vaccinations in selected medical groups in Poland

The purpose of the study was to determine attitudes of medical staff and medical students towards vaccinations and to understand their needs and expectations regarding the popularization of vaccinations in the population. Forty semi-structured individual in-depth interviews were conducted in two groups, each with 20 interviews. The respondents were selected purposefully from all over Poland using the snowball method. The study revealed that more than a half of interviewed physicians (7 out of 13), half of all nurses (2 out of 4), and 1 out of 3 midwives observed views among healthcare workers that are inconsistent with current knowledge about the vaccinations that they are required to talk to their patients about. This suggests the need for medical staff to continually update their knowledge about vaccinations. Moreover, while medical and nursing students regarded vaccinations as effective and safe, almost all of medical students (9 out of 10) and all interviewed nursing students (10 out of 10) believed that their knowledge about vaccinations was limited. Students proposed introducing one subject devoted exclusively to vaccinations, the aim of which is to systematize knowledge in this field. In addition, vaccination education should be integrated across all study groups to enhance the societal health outcomes. What is more, healthcare professionals should be afforded opportunities to participate in training programs designed to update and expand their knowledge about vaccinations. The study suggests that there is a need to broaden the healthcare workers’ competencies in effectively communicating with patients who hold unscientific views on vaccinations. Medical and nursing curricula should include a dedicated course focusing exclusively on vaccinations.