A pair of nursing professors from West Texas are collaborating with community health organizations to increase vaccination rates for underserved and underinsured children.

Instructor, Cathy Northrup, MSN, RN, CPN, and her mentor, assistant professor, Alice Murphy, MPH, BSN, RN, of the Patty Hanks Shelton School of Nursing (PHSSN) in Abilene Texas, are mobilizing community resources to increase parent awareness and access to vaccines for children. Nursing faculty and students from PHSSN administer vaccines in a mobile van donated by Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Texas. Northrup and Murphy also have organized several immunization fairs and a monthly immunization clinic held at a local medical care mission.

Their project is part of the 18 month Maternal Child Health Leadership Academy offered by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International and the Johnson and Johnson Pediatric Institute, LLC. The institute's mission is to improve the lives of children and their families and build upon Johnson & Johnson's heritage in mother and baby care. The honor society is among the oldest and largest nursing organizations, with 125,000 active members in 446 chapters world-wide.

"In large measure, the health of the world is linked with the health of women and children," said Carol Picard, RN, PhD, CS, president of the honor society. "Preparing individual nurses to influence practice and policy related to healthy mother-baby outcomes is a priority."

"Our goal is to increase community awareness about the importance and availability of immunizations, especially for underserved populations," Northrup said. "The project ultimately will raise immunization rates in West Texas."