Midwives and immunisation: beliefs, information and professional development: an exploratory study.
One of the Ministry of Health’s six specific health targets (2011/2012) is to increase immunisation rates to 95% of two year olds by July 2012. As primary health care professionals, midwives provide families with immunisation information. Population Health (Waikato DHB) is interested in midwives’ beliefs about immunisation and where they access their information regarding immunisation. This presentation describes a small research project using an online survey tool in which midwives were invited to state their beliefs about immunisation and identify their sources of information. Survey findings from 55 participants will be discussed, as well as themes from a small focus group where participants explained their attitudes and desires for professional development. It is intended that the survey findings will contribute towards planning future professional development around vaccination programmes for midwives, in conjunction with the Population Health team.