Date of Conferral

8-12-2026

Date of Award

August 2026

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Susan Huehn

Abstract

In this quality improvement project, the DNP scholar explored the impact of a nurse-led staff education approach on improving respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine uptake. RSV disease results in negative health outcomes and even death among vulnerable individuals. Despite the availability of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved vaccines, uptake remains low due to limited provider knowledge and inconsistent vaccine recommendations. Therefore, the project question addressed whether a staff education program would increase providers’ perceived knowledge of RSV vaccine recommendation and confidence to engage in patient education. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to implement a nurse-led staff education program, ultimately to improve RSV vaccine uptake among eligible adults in the ambulatory care setting in Chicago. Baseline RSV vaccination uptake rates were collected and compared against the postintervention data over a 12-week implementation period using descriptive statistics. Upon implementation, the RSV vaccination uptake trends improved in the general medicine clinics. Enhanced staff knowledge and reduced barriers to vaccination were also evident, supporting standardized education and workflow processes to improve preventive care outcomes. Future recommendations include electronic health record (EHR) reminders to support consistent identification of eligible patients. With this project, the aim was to improve nursing practice by strengthening nurses’ roles in vaccine promotion and recommendations; patient education; and evidence-based, preventive care. The social impact of increased RSV vaccination uptake includes reduced risk of infection and hospitalization among the vulnerable groups. This project promotes equitable access to RSV education resources to be made available for all eligible patients.

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