Emerging Nurse Leader

A leadership development blog

Using Professional Influence to Promote Vaccinations

by

By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vaccinations in the US are a good news/bad news situation. The good news is that we are making real progress in giving vaccines. The bad news is that there is a significant percent of the population (including healthcare staff) who are declining vaccination. Unfortunately, the vaccine has been highly politicized from the start, and the warp-speed development has left some deeply skeptical about safety issues.  To reach herd immunity, we will need a level that is estimated between 70 and 90%. The jury is out on whether that will happen or not.

Nurse leaders now find themselves in a situation where they are trying to use their professional influence to promote vaccination with their staff and the community. Overcoming the level of disinformation and conspiracy theory is very challenging. In his book, Think Again, Adam Grant reminds us that being a logic bully with facts will not change minds in a situation like this. This is not a simple matter of more patient education. For many people against vaccination, their opinions have become their identity, so any assault on their worldview is a threat to a sense of self. Refuting a point of view can produce antibodies in the individual against future influence attempts.  People become more certain rather than less certain.

David Rock’s SCARF influencing model is important to consider. Rock suggests that your ability to influence behavior, especially in individualistic cultures like the US, depends on minimizing the risks and maximizing the other person’s rewards. Most mandates will be viewed as threats by people in an individualistic culture. We use the following filters to determine whether we will allow ourselves to be influenced:

Status – are you respectful of my status, or are you asking me to change my status in others’ eyes?

Certainty – can I predict what will happen here, or are there risks in this situation for me?

Autonomy – do I have control over what is happening or are you asking me to give up some of my rights?

Relatedness – can I relate to you? Are you like me? Am I comfortable with you?

Fairness – is what you are asking for fair? Are you taking something from me?

Building an approach to influence behavior while considering the SCARF model is tricky.  The messages about the vaccine from the professional or scientific community may not be well received if the population does not find you relatable.  Taking the vaccine if you are part of a group that feels the virus is a hoax or overblown by politics could be perceived as weakening one’s status with others.  Some current messaging could also be seen as limiting people’s autonomy versus presenting a series of choices. Adam Grant recommends that you change your approach and stay curious through questions.  The following are some good open-ended questions to use in your discussions:

  1. What evidence might change your mind about getting a vaccine?
  2. What about taking a vaccine bothers you most?
  3. Based on what you have heard, is there one vaccine of the three available that you might consider taking?
  4. What do you see in your own social circle that leads you not to want to get vaccinated?
  5. Let’s assume that vaccination is thought to be a bad idea – what case could you make for taking a vaccine?
  6. What could we do better in our education about this?
  7. What are we missing in how we are messaging this?

The decision to get vaccinated is one every individual needs to make for him/herself. You can’t change another person’s mind, but you can plant the seeds to influence a different decision.

Read to Lead

  1. Grant, A. (2021). Think again: The power of knowing what you don’t know. New York: Viking Press
  2. Rock, D. (2013). The SCARF Model Influencing others. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rh5Egsa-bg4

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