Vaccination is the key to ending this pandemic. A vaccine protects the individual vaccinated, but also protects those we provide care for; particularly individuals at increased risk for severe illness. Great Plains QIN wants to celebrate and recognize organizations with high staff COVID-19 vaccination rates throughout North Dakota and South Dakota through the COVID-19 Staff Vaccination Ambassador Program.
This effort began with nursing homes and will soon be extended to community healthcare partners and service organizations. All responses are self-reported and voluntary. Organizations with a 75% or greater staff vaccination rate will be recognized as COVID-19 Staff Vaccination Ambassadors. Ambassadors will be highlighted on the Great Plains QIN Web site, provided a certificate and a template press release recognizing this accomplishment.
There is also great value in responses sharing what has worked well and barriers encountered; best practices and resources will assist those seeking assistance in increasing their staff vaccination rates.
The Nursing Home Staff Vaccination Ambassador page was recently launched. Congratulations to the nursing homes who have reached the 75% vaccination mark. We know this is not easy and your efforts are to be celebrated.
*The site will be updated weekly
| “COVID-19 staff vaccination is paramount if we are to get back to normal. Even one positive COVID-19 staff or patient can have a huge impact on visitation, testing and wearing of PPE, such as gowns, masks and face shields. Vaccination is one of the best ways to keep COVID-19 out of our facilities and letting patients, residents, family members and staff get back to doing life.“
-Dee Kaser, RN, CDCES; Great Plains QIN Quality Improvement Advisor |
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“COVID-19 is a serious health threat and can have significant, life threatening complications even when someone is asymptomatic. Scientists are still learning about the long-lasting effects from COVID-19. Even if you do not get very ill from COVID-19, you can spread the disease to family, friends and others you are around without seeing the impact of the spread. The COVID-19 vaccine is proven to be effective and safe. Our goal is that by celebrating COVID-19 Staff Vaccination Ambassadors and sharing their best practices on our webpage, those best practices can be adopted by other healthcare organizations. It is the people who you are elbow-to-elbow with at work and in the community that are the greatest influencers of vaccine confidence.“ – Tammy Wagner, RN, LSSGB; Great Plains QIN Quality Improvement Advisor |
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You can also help spread the word until every adult knows they are now eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. Use the NEW COVID-19 Community Corps Social Media Toolkit to spread the word about eligibility. HHS has also launched a COVID-19 Public Education Campaign – We Can Do This, which is a national initiative to increase public confidence in and uptake of COVID-19 vaccines while reinforcing basic prevention measures, such as mask wearing and social distancing.