Introduction: Nursing students are future healthcare workers, who spend a lot of time in a clinical environment, where they are exposed to vaccine-preventable diseases such as seasonal influenza. While annual influenza vaccination is strongly recommended for healthcare workers, that is not the case for nursing students and other healthcare students. Studies show that influenza vaccine uptake among healthcare students, including nursing students, is low. Purpose: Our aim was to determine the knowledge and attitude nursing students have towards influenza vaccination and how that affects their decision to vaccinate. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey, that is based on the quantitative research approach on a sample of 113 nursing students from all three years of study. Data collection took place during the 2018/2019 study year with an adapted questionnaire. Basic statistical analysis was performed using Microsoft Excel 2016. The chi square test was used to compare certain data from different groups. Results: Influenza vaccine uptake among nursing students is low (9,7 %). Knowledge about influenza and influenza vaccination is good. There were no statistically important differences in influenza vaccine uptake between years of study, sex and students, who worked in the clinical environment during their studies and those who didn’t. Students are aware of the severity of influenza consequences and the importance of influenza vaccination, but not enough. Discussion and conclusion: Despite good knowledge about and a positive attitude towards influenza vaccination, their uptake remains low. If we wanted to increase the influenza vaccine uptake, a focus on the nursing students as a whole with an emphasis on increasing knowledge, perceiving vaccination as an ethical and professional responsibility and a move to make vaccination for students free and more easily accessible, is necessary.
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