Impact of school nurse education on factors influencing HPV vaccine communication with parents.
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Human papillomavirus (HPV) can cause six cancer types but can be prevented with timely vaccination in early adolescence. However, despite the wide availability of the HPV vaccine, uptake remains suboptimal among US adolescents. School nurses are invaluable resources to students and their families regarding adolescent immunization needs. As part of the All for Them vaccination program, we assessed the impact of the continued nurse education (CNE) intervention on school nurses' HPV vaccine communication with parents. Seventy-two school nurses and nurse administrators in Texas participated in the study. Using a single-arm study design, we measured participants' potential barriers to and self-efficacy for recommending the HPV vaccine, and knowledge about HPV and the vaccine. Data were collected between November 2021 and May 2023. We evaluated differences in survey responses using paired t-test and McNemar-Bowker chi-square test. Participants' uncertainty about HPV vaccine efficacy was significantly reduced at follow-up (P < .001). More participants indicated that their HPV knowledge (P = .003) and understanding of the recommended dosing schedule for the vaccine (P = .003) were not barriers at all at follow-up. Participants' confidence to communicate with parents about HPV vaccination significantly increased across six self-efficacy variables at follow-up (P < .001). The CNE intervention appeared to improve nurses' HPV and HPV vaccine-related knowledge and increased their self-efficacy to communicate about HPV vaccination with parents, while lessening their perceived barriers to do so. The CNE can be a key resource to support school nurses' professional practice, facilitating their high-quality HPV vaccine recommendations to adolescents and parents.