Serving the Community with the Gift of Immunity
Authors: Ali Bernhardt, Kyle Marona, Anna Wierzbicki, and Matt Leggett
Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Lydia Watkins and Dr. Sarah Hartman
Abstract:
Serving the Community with the Gift of Immunity is a student led project relaying the importance of childhood immunizations and the infectious diseases that they protect. With the prevalence of the anti-vaccine movement in our communities, we identified common myths and misconceptions surrounding vaccines and showed current scientific research regarding the safe use and effectiveness of the CDC regulated immunization schedule. We developed age appropriate learning tools to effectively deliver quality information, and presented the material to various parents, children and teachers during a parent-teacher conference night in a local school. Throughout this project, the nursing students collaborated with the School of Education teacher candidate students as a grant was written, received, current age-appropriate books related to the education topic were identified, purchased, and given to the schools, and bulletin boards were developed to further the teaching of this topic in the school.
