Mandated Flu vaccine?

[mol42]

Hi- Just received a blanket email yesterday that my hospital in VA is requiring ALL STAFF involved in patient care to get the flu vaccine this year. (incl nurses, physicians, clinical aides etc) I always get the vaccine voluntarily but feels wrong that this can be mandated. I still intend to get it. Is this legal? I remember something similar involving a group of NY Nurses some time back.

[ladside, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN]

Tell that to the doctors that make the diagnosis and to the families and patients who complain that this is what caused them to get even sicker.

[pockunit, ADN, RN]

Docs can make the dx all they want, but *cold* doesn't cause pneumonia.

[ladside, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN]

You can tell them that, too, while you're at it.

[pockunit, ADN, RN]

So because they say it, it's true?

[Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN]

Microorganisms cause colds/flu...temperature does not. Patients and family who believe otherwise are uneducated on the matter and the nurse should be educating them, not perpetuating an old wife's tale.

[ladside, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN]

Everyone has their own opinions. Obviously you disagree. To each his/her own. I know what I see, I know what I read and you are more than welcome to debate your issue with any physician at any time if you feel that they are improperly diagnose patients, which they sometimes do. Again, the patients and families complain of being cold and when they complain about the temps and then someone gets sick....there you have it.

[pockunit, ADN, RN]

Correlation does not equal causation.

[roser13, ASN, RN]

We have soooooo many people that come in with one thing and end up with 'colds' so severe that the physicians diagnose them with pneumonia after being subjected to extremely uncomfortable temperatures on the general hospital floors. Just this summer alone, we had family members to bring in electric blankets and heating pads for their loved ones because it is soooooo cold and the nursing staff have no way of adjusting the thermostats because the 'main' hospital units takes over and engineering is the only ones to control it. We have the patient 'disatisfaction' scores to document this very issue.

Patient dissatisfaction, yes. Pneumonia, no.

It's a little frightening to hear your assertion. And to think that your staff MD's are "diagnosing" pneumonia from cold temps.......I'll take that as your read on the situation.

And originally, you threw "nosocomial" in there as well. How does that fit into the pneumonia from cold theory?

[llg, PhD, RN]

... and people wonder why nurses don't get more respect and higher pay.

[pockunit, ADN, RN]

Everyone has their own opinions. Obviously you disagree. To each his/her own.

The thing is, this isn't opinion. My opinion has no bearing on the discussion. Docs who dx pneumonia based on the temperature of a room are doing so for the pt's benefit (insurance? customer satisfaction? who knows). They are not doing it based on pathophysiology or facts or (oh, I'm going to say a dirty word), science.

[roser13, ASN, RN]

... and people wonder why nurses don't get more respect and higher pay.

:yeah:

[MikeyBSN]

You're telling me you wouldn't buy a lottery ticket with those odds? Would you get chemo based on those numbers? Prophylactic surgery? I sure would.

Completely not analogous to this situation.