This study showed that the perception of personal vulnerability to illness was important in nurses making vaccination decisions. But perceptions of the negative consequences of contracting influenza and severity of influenza were not major factors, a finding which is consistent with findings of previous studies [16] . This suggests that future educational campaigns might be more effective if they focus on the negative personal consequences of contracting influenza and its sequelae rather than nurses' professional duty to protect patients or other vulnerable groups. Additionally, the reasons which nurses gave for having vaccination focused upon their personal health motivation rather than a professional responsibility regardless of whether they were vaccinated or unvaccinated. Concerns about the vaccine's side-effects and effectiveness or safety were the two most frequent reasons for not having a vaccination indicating continuing misconceptions about influenza vaccine in nurses. Future educational campaigns may wish to consider providing targeted information to change these widespread myths in nurses. However, these concerns did not seem to influence vaccination decisions because both vaccinated as well as unvaccinated nurses noted these reasons against vaccination. It may be the case that 2 days of minor discomfort postvaccination is tolerable when set against a year's influenza protection. Unvaccinated nurses reported 'no need ' as their reason not having a vaccination which is consistent with their low-risk perception of contracting influenza. The convenience of the vaccination programme was identified as an organizational reason highlighting the importance of easy access to vaccination to increase its coverage in nurses.