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An Interactive Educational Tool to Improve Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Knowledge and Recommendation Among Nurses

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Abstract

In United States, only 57% of  women and 53% of men in the recommended age groups have received all recommended doses of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. Healthcare provider education has been associated with strong vaccine recommendation and vaccination uptake. Our objective was to create a 7-min interactive online educational tool to improve knowledge and willingness to recommend the HPV vaccine among nurses. This is a prospective pre-test/post-test study to evaluate the effectiveness of the educational tool consisting of 10 flashcards in a question-answer format. Oncology nurses at our cancer center were invited to participate by email, which led them to the educational tool (i.e., intervention) along with pre- and post-test questions on HPV-associated cancers, vaccine-eligible age groups, dosing schedules, adverse events, and willingness to recommend. Of the 110 participants (mean age of 41.2 ± 11.4, 98% female, 64% >10 years of practice), there was improvement in knowledge after intervention in HPV-associated cancers (81% to 97%; p = 0.02), percentage of cervical caused by HPV (33% to 64%; p < 0.05), and dosing schedule (47% to 93%; p < 0.05). All participants correctly stated that continued screening is needed after vaccination both pre- and post-intervention. Eighty-five percent strongly agreed that the intervention improved their HPV knowledge, and 77% stated they were more likely to recommend the HPV vaccine after the intervention. While nurses are willing to recommend the vaccine, there remains persistent knowledge gaps. A brief 7-min self-administered online interactive flashcard educational intervention is effective in improving the HPV vaccine knowledge among nurses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, McGill University Health Center, Cedars Cancer Centre, D02.7224, 1001 Décarie Blvd., Montreal, QC, H4A 3J1, Canada

    Shuk On Annie Leung

  2. Oral Medicine, Oral Oncology and Dentistry, Miami Cancer Institute, Miami, FL, USA

    Alessandro Villa

  3. Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA

    Eileen Duffey-Lind

  4. Team Maureen, Boston, MA, USA

    Kelly Welch

  5. Phyllis F. Cantor Center for Research in nursing and Patient Care Services, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA

    Theresa Jabaley & Marilyn Hammer

  6. Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA

    Sarah Feldman

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  1. Shuk On Annie Leung
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  2. Alessandro Villa
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  3. Eileen Duffey-Lind
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  4. Kelly Welch
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  5. Theresa Jabaley
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  6. Marilyn Hammer
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  7. Sarah Feldman
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Correspondence to Shuk On Annie Leung.

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Leung, S.O.A., Villa, A., Duffey-Lind, E. et al. An Interactive Educational Tool to Improve Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Knowledge and Recommendation Among Nurses. J Canc Educ 38, 1880–1886 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-023-02352-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-023-02352-2

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