Abstract
Background: Influenza costs the United States approximately $10 billion, hospitalizes 200,000 people, and kills thousands of people each year (Blahd, 2015). The American Academy of Pediatrics, Healthy People 2020, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have goals to increase influenza vaccination rates; however, influenza vaccination rates remain low.|Purpose: To improve influenza vaccination rates in children from 6 months to 17 years old in the Des Moines area.|Methods: This project was a quality improvement project in the emergency department setting, where all patients six months of age and older were to be screened for influenza vaccination status and then had the opportunity to receive the influenza vaccine.|Findings: During the months of October/November/December 2018, 87.6% of patients were screened for their influenza vaccination status and 9.3% of unvaccinated children received the influenza vaccine. This was compared to the previous years’ seasonal influenza screening which was 55% with 0% of unvaccinated children receiving the influenza vaccine.|Implications: Emergency department-based influenza vaccination programs are both feasible and successful. These programs can increase influenza vaccination rates. This was the first season for this project. With continued seasonal efforts, the anticipation is that more children will be vaccinated.