Vaccine Confidence: Nurses Turn Skepticism Into Action is the first episode in a six-part At the Core of Care podcast series about building confidence in the COVID-19 vaccines. During this series, the National Nurse-Led Care Consortium hopes to support nurses and our communities participate in conversations to promote vaccine confidence and support public health.

 

During this series, we’ll hear from nurses across the country about their experiences with vaccines and vaccine deployment. In this episode, we start in our hometown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and talk with local nurses Monica Harmon and Maria Mazzocchi.

 

Monica brings her expertise as a public health nurse to many arenas, which include including a school nurse, adjunct faculty at Thomas Jefferson University and Lincoln University, and co-chair of the Nurse Diversity Council at the Pennsylvania Action Coalition. Maria is a public health nurse supervisor for the Philadelphia Nurse-Family Partnership at the National Nurse-Led Care Consortium, where she supports their public health nurse home visiting programs for families with children under the age of five. 

 

Monica and Maria walk us through their decision-making process about why they decided to get vaccinated, including their initial hesitation. They also outline the steps nurses can take to become a vaccine ambassador.