- As part of our Vaccine Awareness Initiative, we're pleased to be joined by Ashley Sbarra, who is Clinical Resource Nurse for General Pediatrics, Hackensack University Medical Center, part of HMH Health, and underwriter of our program, Healthcare Programming.

Ashley, great to have you with us.

- Hi, Steve.

How are you?

- I'm doing great.

Listen, Vaccines: What You Need to Know.

The graphic is coming up right now.

What do we need to know and particularly talk to parents out there.

You have two girls, 5 1/2, 2 1/2 as we do this program.

- Yes.

- What do most... What should parents know right now about vaccines from your perspective?

- So, I think it's important for parents to understand that this is a tool that can be utilized for their kids to build a healthy immune system and provide the best defense possible for their kids.

And I think it's really important for them to always look for factual sources of information and speak to their pediatricians.

- So let me ask you something.

You see parents all the time in your work, right?

- Yes.

- Do you sense vaccine resistance, Ashley, vaccine confusion, what?

- I think it stems from confusion.

I think you have to remember that parents' fears and concerns are coming from a place of love.

And when they're cautious, it's because they want the best decision possible for their kids, right, we all do.

So I think it's really important as healthcare providers to be able to empathize with them, understand where they're coming from, and be able to kind of provide them with the appropriate education and information to help them navigate any of these concerns that they may have.

- Now, we're doing this on the 22nd of April, to be seen later.

So the measles situation, we don't know what's gonna happen.

What information do you believe, as a clinician, as a nurse, and a mom, what do you believe parents need to know about the measles vaccine?

- I think it's important for them to realize that the measles is something preventable and that there is a vaccine available to help us prevent these illnesses in children.

And working here in the hospital, you know, we see kids hospitalized for all different reasons and it's really important for them to realize that the point of vaccines is to help their kids build a healthy immune system so that they can lessen the severity of symptoms and provide them, hopefully, make it manageable and they don't end up in the hospital with, you know, severe complications.

- You've seen patients with the flu, obviously.

- Yes, so, you know, for the flu in the...

I'm sorry.

- Let's talk flu vaccine?

- Yes, flu vaccine.

So here in the hospital, we always offer the flu vaccine from October to March during flu season.

We always are encouraging our patients to stay up to date with their flu shot annually, making sure that they're getting it every year.

And the whole purpose is, is that once they get the flu shot in a controlled, safe environment, this will help build their body's natural defenses to the flu.

So that this way, if they become exposed, they'll have less symptoms.

Hopefully, it's more manageable and they can kind of manage it at home and keep them out of the hospital as best as we can.

- Interesting.

Our team has been putting up the New Jersey Department of Health website.

There's a section that deals specifically with vaccines.

Go on the website, check it out.

- Do you find people who say, "I read such-and-such somewhere," and you know instinctively, as a clinician, they picked up that information from someplace other than a credible source.

Do you ever deal with that?

- Sometimes, I mean, there's all different reasons that parents have, and, you know, they see information everywhere.

- Is this a good source or not?

- Yes.

No, that is a bad source.

So I'm always calling- - Oh, oh, tell folks why.

- Yes.

No, no (indistinct).

- Why is that a problem?

Why?

I do listen, Ashley, I'm not gonna lie.

I've gone on the internet to check, "Oh, I got this muscle with..." That's one thing.

- Yeah.

- That's dangerous enough.

- Yes.

- The internet, social media, and vaccines.

Your turn, go ahead.

- Yes.

I would not use that as a valid, trusted source.

I'm always telling our parents here, and as a mom of two, that your trusted source should be your pediatrician.

That's who you should consider a factual resource for information.

And especially, you know, with young kids, because your pediatrician has probably been with your child since birth.

So they know them, they know you, they know your family, and this is who we should be seeing for information.

- What else other than the vaccines that you're supposed to be getting and keeping, quote, up to date on the vaccines.

What else do children need to be doing or we need to be doing for our children to keep them as healthy as possible?

Please, Ashley.

- Yeah, so we're always encouraging patients and families that they see their pediatrician and that they're instilling healthy habits in their children all the time.

You know, so good hand hygiene, eating a balanced diet, all of these things in conjunction with vaccine.

- What about exercise?

Exercise.

- Exercise, fresh air, getting outside.

But all these things in conjunction with vaccination is gonna be the tools that you need to provide your child to have a good, healthy immune system.

- But if someone were to say, let me play devil's advocate, Ashley, "You know, I do the hand washing, our kid does hand washing exercises, eat right vitamins, right?"

- Yeah.

- "And then we lead a healthy lifestyle.

We don't need the vaccine."

Talk to those folks.

- So, you know, I usually say, as a mom of two little girls, that I'm always personally conscious of what my kids are exposed to, what they're putting in their bodies.

And I can relate to parents.

And as a healthcare provider and a parent, I'm usually telling them that this is the best tools that we can provide them.

So, you know, you wanna just use all the tools that we have available to us.

And getting vaccinated is a safe and effective way to help our kids.

- It's not an either/or proposition.

- No- - It's not, "Oh, I'm gonna go this way."

I don't know about the vaccines.

It's not either/or.

- No, it shouldn't be.

It should be, you know, doing everything that we can to provide them with the best defense.

So it's all of these things working in conjunction together that's gonna give you the best immune system and the best way to stay healthy.

- And if you go on our website right now that our team will put it up, it's steveadubato.org, and I'm pretty sure... Yeah, we have a section that actually has past interviews that we've done with epidemiologists, with healthcare professionals, with the Commissioner of the Department of Health, Dr. Baston, and others talking about Vaccines: What You Need to Know.

Meaning all the previous interviews we've done, we'll be doing public service announcements and working that out with Ashley and other folks who are in the field so that it's an entire public awareness initiative.

That's what we're involved in.

We're not advocating a point of view.

It's accurate, credible health and medical information about vaccines.

That's our role, and more importantly, Ashley Sbarra has done a great job.

Ashley is a Clinical Resource Nurse for General Pediatrics.

- Correct.

- Right, Hackensack University Medical Center.

Ashley, thank you so much.

Really well done.

- Thank you, Steve, have a good day.

- Yeah, keep educating and informing parents and others what they need to know.

For Ashley and everyone involved in our Vaccine Awareness Initiative, thanks for watching, we'll see you next time.

- [Narrator] Think Tank with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by The Turrell Fund, a foundation serving children.

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And by The Adler Aphasia Center.

Promotional support provided by NJ.Com.

And by ROI-NJ.

- The EJI Excellence in Medicine Awards was established in 1939, shining a light on New Jersey's health care leaders.

Current awards include the Excellence in Medicine, Research, Medical, Education and Community Service.

EJI also funds annual scholarships to medical, dental, pharmaceutical and physician assistant students throughout the state.

Learn more at EJIAwards.org.