How do you feel about mandatory influenza vaccines?

Nurses COVID

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I am totally against the influenza vaccine. I know many of my close relatives and friends, as well as other nurses, who have received the vaccine and it did more harm than good to every one of them. Five of these people in particular were hospitalized after and a few of them were sick for months. I have never received the vaccine and I personally think it is wrong for an employer to force you to get it. I have done some research on it and some hospitals are going as far as terminating people who refuse the vaccine. I am a new graduate (December 2012) still unemployed and actively looking for RN jobs and many of them state that they require the influenza vaccine for all employees. I was wondering if your particular hospital has a waiver or any exemptions to the mandatory vaccine?

Specializes in Emergency.
Being the rebel that I am when it comes to "mandatory" regarding my health if they push the issue where I work I will refuse the shot and "wear" the mask-----pinned to my uniform (they don't specify where it has to be worn on my body) I have been working in ED since 1979 and the only time I got sick with the flu was after a mandatory flu shot.

It's not about you getting sick! It's about you being a carrier and getting people who could possibly die getting sick...what is your evidence that that has never occurred with your "rebel" nescience?"

Specializes in Emergency.
What is science today, can easily be fiction tomorrow. These tests are all run by humans, which places those same tests ALL at risk for error. So, I wouldn't be so quick to judge and call other colleagues ignorant. There may come a day when you just might have to eat that word. At some point in time, all things appeared to be true. But things evolve and they change. There is a study out now that says evidence indicates that lower nurse-patient ratios correlate with safer and improved care. How many of us needed a study to know that? But before at some point, somebody somewhere felt it was safe or just as beneficial to pile on the work of the nurses. So there was a push for that practice based on evidence, and now here we are: over-worked, over-stressed, nurses leaving the field, new grads being sugar-coated with what is soon to follow, and having to answer to the resulting development of patient satisfaction scores because, unlike popular belief, nurses cannot be in all these places at once.

From what the IC nurse said yesterday, the healthy people who got the shot were no longer healthy at least for a short period of time because they were out of work for a week or so each with the flu.

My grown children and I do not get the vaccine and we never get the flu. My military brothers and dad get that vaccine each year and each year, they get the flu. Every year, we get to watch them suffer. In my opinion, it is just a matter of time before evidence shows that previous evidence was incorrect. Lots of proven trials are later disproven. It was said back in the day that we got vaccinated for childhood illnesses to prevent us from contracting those diseases. We were not allowed in school if we did not receive them. Well, I received my shots and got none of those diseases.....until I reached the age of 23 (chickenpox) and 34 (again chicken pox). Have the medical records to prove it...got them twice when it wasn't thought possible. And it was not documented as shingles. It clearly states chicken pox. I remember the nurses really getting a kick out of someone my age with that diagnosis.

So, I'll wait, because so far, I've been flu-free for nearly half a century. We, as nurses, know that every thing does not apply to every single individual on this earth. That is what we were taught in nursing school. Even facility policies has to be catered to fit specific patient needs. That's why we have Individualized Plans of Care.

Your anecdotal evidence does not disprove anything...a return to the basics of the scientific method seem in order...but alas...so much of what transpires in this country/world is based wholly on fiction, fear, propaganda...

[h=2]“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”[/h]Hitchens...

The people preaching that everyone should get the vaccine, have any of you ever looked into what some of these "vaccines" contain? some vaccines contain mercury. Is it any wonder people don't want something like that in their bodies? I'm 22 and I've never had the flu jag and i've never had the flu (i nursed my bf for a week who had swine flu and never contracted it) i certainly don't want to pollute my body with something that will have very little benefit to me

I did a google search for "flu shot myths" - different sources noted below. You'll find lots of info. The CDC has the same kinds of info as well.

The one issue that drives me crazy as a nurse is people saying the flu shot gives you the flu. That simply is not true.

Myth No. 2: Vaccines can give me the flu.

“The basic flu shot uses inactivated virus, which cannot transmit the flu,” says Jim Noah. “Side effects are soreness, redness, swelling, low-grade fever and aches that may last one to two days, but this is a normal reaction to any vaccination. It’s not the flu.” Noah says the flu shot is approved for use in people older than 6 months, including people with chronic medical conditions

.

Five Flu Myths Debunked

Myth: The Flu Shot Can Give You The Flu

Fact: This myth just will not die. So let's clear this up: You cannot get the flu from your flu shot.

Why? That vaccine is made from a dead or inactive virus that can no longer spread its fever-spiking properties. [COLOR=#009bd5]In rare cases, a person may experience a reaction to the shot that includes a low-grade fever, but these reactions are not The Flu, Everyday Health reported. Note: Even though the flu shot cannot cause the flu, there are a number of other [COLOR=#009bd5]reasons not to get the vaccine, including for some people with an allergy to eggs or a history of Guillain-Barre Syndrome

Flu Myths: 7 Common Beliefs, Busted

2. Myth: The flu shot itself can give you a case of the flu.

Fact: The virus used in the vaccine is grown in chicken eggs and killed off before it reaches your bloodstream. There's absolutely nothing in it capable of causing the flu.

Flu Shot Myths And Facts - Prevention.com

The fact is, the timing of getting a flu shot coincides with the flu virus going around. So, when you were shopping at the grocery store and touched the shopping cart handle or you opened the door to pick up some milk or you headed over to the post office to buy stamps or you shook hands with someone you were at risk of touching the flu virus and getting it into your system days before or the day of getting the flu shot. THAT virus gives you the flu. Not the flu shot.

The people preaching that everyone should get the vaccine, have any of you ever looked into what some of these "vaccines" contain? some vaccines contain mercury. Is it any wonder people don't want something like that in their bodies? I'm 22 and I've never had the flu jag and i've never had the flu (i nursed my bf for a week who had swine flu and never contracted it) i certainly don't want to pollute my body with something that will have very little benefit to me

Another myth. Not all vaccine has thimerosal.

CDC - Thimerosal and 2013-2014 Seasonal Flu Vaccines | Seasonal Influenza (Flu)

Since seasonal influenza vaccine is produced in large quantities for annual immunization campaigns, some of the vaccine is produced in multi-dose vials, and contains thimerosal to safeguard against possible contamination of the vial once it is opened.The single-dose units are made without thimerosal as a preservative because they are intended to be opened and used only once. Additionally, the live-attenuated version of the vaccine (the nasal spray vaccine), is produced in single-dose units and does not contain thimerosal.

Plus, anyone who thinks ethyl mercury and methyl mercury are the same thing should enjoy a nice glass of hydrogen peroxide, because by that logic it's the same thing as water.

Take the Flu-IQ test.

CDC - The Flu I.Q. Widget | Seasonal Influenza (Flu)

Specializes in Anesthesia, ICU, PCU.

We're running in circles here. Not sure how it has been in the past, but most new grads these days are given a microbiology class in their education that includes the chain of infection, the innate and adaptive immune response, and vaccine history/production among other things. Vaccinations aren't a "new science" by any means that one day I'm going to regret advocating for. They've been around for centuries, and will continue to be. I do expect to one day look back on my practice and go "we used to do that!?" (like with saline bullets in trachs and iodine coating/heat lamps for wounds) but this won't happen with vaccines.

My personal opinion is that this recent vaccine refusal thing is a new phenomenon perpetrated by the security of a wealthy, first world way of life where the majority of the population has reason and gets the vaccine thereby protecting the rest with a "herd immunity." It just seems arrogant to presume that you know more than the scores of highly educated experts who tirelessly R&D the medicine that poor countries are literally dying for, and ungrateful to accept such medicine when you can.

A picture of how viruses act on cells:

Here's something published by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia #1-2 children's hospital in the country that might allay some misconceptions that you seem to be having:

http://www.chop.edu/service/vaccine-education-center/vaccine-science/how-are-vaccines-made.html

To summarize the above, the flu "shot" or intramuscular injection is an inactivated virus. That means that it's dead. Done. Not infectious. It is no longer capable of entering your cells, reproducing its genetic material and protective coating, destroying the cell upon exiting, then causing further infection.

The only issue with inactivated viruses, and possibly why people you know have gotten the flu after the vaccine, is that they sometimes "don't work" because the vaccine is too weak to create immunity. That's why you go back for multiple Hepatitis and DTaP vaccinations. On top of that, each seasons flu shot is designed to provide immunity for only the strains that are predicted to be prevalent/most infectious that season. This is done by highly educated scientists and researchers. Could be that they caught another strain. That doesn't mean don't get the vaccine...

TU RN - thanks for your post. Yes, you can get one of the more rare flu viruses not covered by each year's flu vaccine. And you might get the flu because the vaccine isn't 100% effective. But it is still effective in about two-thirds of the cases and then would actually lessen the severity of a flu that you might get. Still a good thing.

I'm saddened that nurses who take science classes (micro/physio/biology) don't understand how vaccines work.

I got the flu shot last year which caused my lips to swell up. Pretty pleasant lol, I guess if they require documentation, good thing I filed reports with the CDC and had several doctor's visit to try to treat it (I overheard them talking about me in the hallway: Angelina Jolie, with bad lip injections). For some reason, since getting the shot, and it could be coincidental even though I've had zero problems in 23 years until the time I got my flu shot, I've had a myriad of allergies that cause my lips to swell. Honestly, the flu vaccine isn't fool proof and I think a mask is probably better protection anyways. And if we could get people to wash their hands, cover their cough, and stay the hell at home if they aren't feeling well incidence reduction would be greatly reduced. I guess if I would be terminated if I didn't get it, I'd get it and they could sit and watch my lips swell up and have a shot of Kenalog ready to give me lol.

Edit to add: As a vegan, I was forced by my school to get the vaccine, but I'm glad they at least have an egg free vaccine this year. Maybe it was the egg in the last one that did me over since I don't expose myself to that ever.

Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

My company requires the vax or else you wear a mask during the entire flu season. It's a choice. Just like smoking, companies can refuse to hire smokers, they can choose to hire only those who will comply with their other rules as well. Its a choice for you as well, take the vax, or choose to be unemployed, potentially

Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

Wow. Stopping with that.....

Being the rebel that I am when it comes to "mandatory" regarding my health if they push the issue where I work I will refuse the shot and "wear" the mask-----pinned to my uniform (they don't specify where it has to be worn on my body) I have been working in ED since 1979 and the only time I got sick with the flu was after a mandatory flu shot.
Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

The rule at my facility is that you either get the shot or you wear a mask when providing patient care. If I can make a case on the grounds of religious/medical reasons, then I can decline the shot...but I'd still have to wear that mask.

The rule with my agency is that you get the shot or you don't get scheduled at all. No exceptions.

I don't mind it being mandatory as I'd get it done even if it wasn't. I'd rather minimize my risk of getting the flu. Besides, wearing masks doesn't really go over well with my paranoid psych patients.

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