Hospitals illegally firing nurses for refusing flu vaccines

Nurses COVID

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Apologies if this has been posted somewhere else. I'm using the mobile app and am still getting the hang of things. What are your thoughts?

Hospitals illegally firing nurses for refusing flu vaccines in violation of state law, Civil Rights Act

http://www.naturalnews.com/038781_nurses_flu_vaccines_fired.html

Not sure if I can post the body of the article here, but it's found at the link above,

mariebailey --with all due respect, that comment was not called for.

I think the people posting/reading this thread are NOT psychotic, paranoid or members of a radical group. I dont think anyone is wearing a tin foil hat. By the way-- I think you mean aluminum foil hat? They don't make "tin foil" anymore........

I think people posting here have concerns and are voicing those over a free internet forum consisting of fellow professionals.

Yes--we do get off topic sometimes--its an internet forum----!

yes--some of us to feel like we have no say so in some of the decisions that others make that heavily influence our lives. Decisions that don't make any sense to us.

The focus here is the mandatory flu vaccination. If you have been following developments concerning this mandate I think you will begin to see that the hospitals that have acted interdependently in making this mandate, are beginning to see that perhaps that wasn't the best thing to do.

Just because others don't agree with your pro flu vaccination beliefs doesnt mean you have to become disrespectful.

You're right; I should not have posted that. I apologize.

mariebailey --with all due respect, that comment was not called for.

I think the people posting/reading this thread are NOT psychotic, paranoid or members of a radical group. I dont think anyone is wearing a tin foil hat. By the way-- I think you mean aluminum foil hat? They don't make "tin foil" anymore........

I think people posting here have concerns and are voicing those over a free internet forum consisting of fellow professionals.

Yes--we do get off topic sometimes--its an internet forum----!

yes--some of us to feel like we have no say so in some of the decisions that others make that heavily influence our lives. Decisions that don't make any sense to us.

The focus here is the mandatory flu vaccination. If you have been following developments concerning this mandate I think you will begin to see that the hospitals that have acted interdependently in making this mandate, are beginning to see that perhaps that wasn't the best thing to do.

Just because others don't agree with your pro flu vaccination beliefs doesnt mean you have to become disrespectful.

What a wonderful response to such an immature grade school post. If I were to respond to her it most definitely wouldn't be a warm and cuddly read.

Specializes in emergency, psy, case management.

Thank you Mariebailey--apology accepted.

Well, according to cdc's report the number of flu cases are greatly diminished. Thats a good thing.

Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.

I don't know. I thought it was kind of funny. Why not laugh now and then no matter what your belief or stance on the issue. Sometimes a little "lighten up" is appropriate.

Specializes in PCU.

If the hospital really cared about employees not infecting each other they would actually honor an employee calling in sick. I have worked at many hospitals across the US and with the exception of one (st. Joes in Tampa), if you called in sick you were treated as a liar and a malingerer.

At St. Joes I was actually working a shift and I started getting a little hoorifice with a sore throat and was sent home until it could be determined that I was not going to be febrile etc... but in 30 years and about 10 or more hospitals i have worked at, they are the only ones. My current hospital let the tele tech come in so sick she wore her scarf hat and mittens (she was chilling from her fever) and they just had the attitude that we were too short staffed to even bother trying to find a replacement for her.

So they insist we get a flu shot, but then insist we come in sick - so what's the real agenda?

Specializes in Adult Critical Care, Med-Surg, Obs.

At the hospital I currently work at, you can refuse for personal and religious belief or if you are unable to tolerate the vaccine i.e. allergies to eggs. But, you have to wear a mask with any and all patient contact. I for one think it's ridiculous that so many people in this forum agree with the policy of getting terminated if you don't get the injections. They fired a 20+ year veteran nurse who called in sick 4 times in her career over that. In some institutors they tell nurses you can't smoke, it's ridiculous. Why are people so quick to agree with an agenda that violates your civil rights? This type of complacency is amazing to me.

You don't even know what they are giving you and you go along and take because they say so. At what point do you think the federal government will cease this type of executive entrapment. You have the right to refuse healthcare, you have the right to refuse emergency care, you have the right to refuse medicine but if you say no to a vaccine, YOUR FIRED. That is 100 % insert dirty word here

Specializes in Critical Care.

So let's say I have a personal objection to washing my hands, I believe that if God's plan was for someone to get an infection from my unwashed hands, then I shouldn't interfere with God's plan. Should a hospital have no right to enforce mandatory hand washing?

Specializes in emergency, psy, case management.

not applicable--you would have never graduated from any Nursing school with those beliefs.

But get real--what hospital really enforces proper hand washing!! They should, and at times they make a few minor efforts to do so--but they only advise that you should. Policies are written about it. But no one tracks you or constantly observes that staff wash their hands as they should. Matter of fact a nurse that has multiple patients --in reality--cannot wash their hands as theory dictate they should. Doctors, x ray techs, Physical therapists etc definitely do not.

But I guess my main point with this comparison would be that washing your hands has been proven to work 100% of the time. The flu vaccine best percentage of effectiveness that I am aware off--please correct me if I am wrong---is only 62% agaisnt the 3 virus's it is designed to work agaisnt. That is like only washing one hand.

If the flu vaccination was 100% effective then a mandate would make a lot more sense to me.

Specializes in Critical Care.

Not applicable? It's the same rationale. And yes, it is surprising that those so willing to sacrifice patient safety to make a questionable supported point about personal autonomy managed to graduate from Nursing School.

Yes, handwashing (ie hand hygiene) is strictly monitored in many hospitals, we have people that just follow people around making sure they do this, and yes it's absolutely expected that this is done between patients, this includes everyone, not just Nurses.

Not applicable? It's the same rationale. And yes, it is surprising that those so willing to sacrifice patient safety to make a questionable supported point about personal autonomy managed to graduate from Nursing School.

Yes, handwashing (ie hand hygiene) is strictly monitored in many hospitals, we have people that just follow people around making sure they do this, and yes it's absolutely expected that this is done between patients, this includes everyone, not just Nurses.

Your first six words started off good.Your opinion. But why did it have to turn nasty with the next sentence? Quite an affront to all those kind,caring,dedicated nurses who "managed" to graduate from nursing school and have worked their b.... off,not to mention the numerous other sacrifices GIVEN in the name of their job.

How can you discount those nurses who have been in the field-some for YEARS? The flu has been around for YEARS and so has the vaccine and I do not EVER recall a PUSH such as we are seeing THIS year for mandated vaccinations,threats,and of course that guilt inducing term "for patient safety"-really?I do not fall for that one for a minute.

For me,the rules changed fairly quickly long AFTER I had been working for my employer.I was not a new hire coming in KNOWING upfront there was a mandate in place therefore giving me the option to look at other facilities without mandates. I believe it forced alot of long term employed nurses to have to make some hard decisions on just what they will sacrifice.

The flu has been around for YEARS as has flu vaccines-YEARS.I'll keep my personal autonomy over personal enslavement.

We,as ADULTS,can agree to disagree WITHOUT being rude or demeaning to each other.

Specializes in Critical Care.
not applicable--you would have never graduated from any Nursing school with those beliefs.

MeggieA, I'm not the one who brought up the subject of whether or not the Nursing education process weeds out those who wouldn't follow patient safety initiatives such as handwashing.

There's more of a push every year as more and more groups that guide facility policies such as this recommend universal vaccination, but the push is nothing new by any means. You're free to make you own choices but you don't have the right to practice those choices against the policy of your employer. If I was opposed to hand hygiene, should I have the right to risk spreading infection to my patients, or would firing me seem pretty reasonable?

When I wash a patient's hands, I don't have to hand them a pile of paperwork listing the risks and benefits. When I give them a vaccination, I do. If for no other reason, there's a difference between handwashing and vaccination.

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