It Takes the Whole Team: Staff Roles in ImmunizationWelcome to Immu-News, the Immunization Initiatives listserv, a monthly resource for the community of participants in this project.Our topic for the month is It Takes the Whole Team:  Staff Roles in Immunization.  As you know, we’ve been calling each of the Project clinics over the last months and wanted to share with you some interesting ideas about who plays what part in immunization at our clinics.Of course, we all think immediately about the providers and nurses, the people most likely to administer the vaccines.  But who orders the vaccines, who checks the supplies, who keeps the logs, who books the appointments, who enters the data, who tracks it, and who encourages the clients to come in to the clinic to get the shot?It could be at some clinics that one or two people do most or all of these jobs, while at other clinics, they may be divided up among three or four or more people.  What works at your clinic and why?  Does the hand that gives the shot know what the other hands are doing?  How is recording and tracking immunization data a team effort? How can the receptionist, the billing clerk, and the outreach worker all be a crucial part of the picture?Read on for information about the following:

1. Experience: A checklist of all the different tasks necessary to arrive at your clinic’s immunization goals, gathered from our recent phone calls to you.
2. Research: the collaborative approach--how successful are systems that incorporate the receptionist or the outreach worker into the immunization goals of the clinic?

 Introductory overview of occupational health policy by Farmworker Justice.

There has never been a better time to recruit and retain clinicians through the National Health Service Corps(NHSC). Clinicians working in NHSC‐approved sites with HPSA scores as low as zero have greater opportunities and access to funding than ever before in the history of the program.

A complete list of questions and answers on HPV Vaccine from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This table for healthcare providers and planners provides information related to spacing between the two doses of 2009 H1N1 Vaccine for children 6 months through 9 years of age.

Continuing education course developed by the Occupational Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, California Department of Public Health.  Can view it for information or can register for credits.

First do no harm : Protect patients by making sure all staff receive yearly influenza vaccine!

An interactive lead case study by Susan Buchanan, MD, Linda Forst, MD, MPH, and Anne Evens, MS.

HHS Deputy Secretary Bill Corr today announced the release of $13.4 million for loan repayments to nurses who agree to practice in facilities with critical shortages and for schools of nursing to provide loans to students who will become nurse faculty. The funds were made available by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), signed Feb. 17, 2009, by President Obama.

“The need for more nurses is great. Over the next decade, nurse retirements and an aging U.S. population, among other factors, will create the need for hundreds of thousands of new nurses,” Deputy Secretary Corr said. “The awards from these two HRSA programs will help us meet projected demand for their services.”

California Department of Public Health offers numerous bilingual educational materials regarding childhood lead poisoning prevention.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development lead information

Lead is a toxic metal that was used for many years in products found in and around our homes. Lead also can be emitted into the air from motor vehicles and industrial sources, and lead can enter drinking water from plumbing materials. Lead may cause a range of health effects, from behavioral problems and learning disabilities, to seizures and death. Children six years old and under are most at risk.