An ongoing shortages of physicians to serve as medical directors may be having a negative impact on facilities’ ability to get workers vaccinated. Authors of a new article suggest:
- Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) have great faith in their medical directors, and an engaged medical direct helps ensure that staff is educated, informed, and empowered to make important healthcare decisions, such as whether or not to get vaccinated.
- CNAs trust their medical directors over the leadership at the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) and other government entities.
- If facilities are going to convince CNAs and other staff to get vaccinated, medical directors need to do more to engage with staff. This means going beyond public events such as town halls. They need more personalized interactions and one-on-one conversations.
- To date, about 45% of the nation’s 1.5 million nursing home staff are unvaccinated against COVID-19.
