H1N1 Vax -- Did your school make provision to offer this to you?

[DolceVita, ADN, BSN, RN]

Hey all!

It seems like mine is the only NS in the area that made NO provision to offer this vaccination to their students. Are we not healthcare workers with direct patient contact (albeit students)? Therefore are we not considered the same priority for vaccination as "healthcare workers" with direct patient contact?

I wanted the vaccination for a host of reasons. Luckily I had an option to get it outside of my school. Other students who don't work in healthcare did not.

The local big university and private colleges did offer the H1N1 vaccination to their nursing & medical students (from mid-Oct). Where was my school's supply & plan? Nowhere.

So did your school have a plan for the nursing students to be vaccinated voluntarily or not?

My school's comment about this was..."the clinical sites aren't requiring it". Of course they only found this out in the last week. So, again, where was my school's plan?

Comments?

[llg, PhD, RN]

How to tell you are going to a bad nursing school:

1. No provisions made for getting flu vaccine to students

2. No plan for "make up clinicals" to replace those missed by students and faculty due to influnza

3. ...

4. ...

[DolceVita, ADN, BSN, RN]

No kidding.

[CrunchyMama, ASN, RN]

I'm so glad NY has lifted the flu vaccine mandate, now I don't have to fight this issue. So as of right now, for us it's voluntary.

[Kringe38]

No provision for us to get it at my school and I would like it. But the supplies are trickling in very slowly and in my state seem to be aimed mostly at children and pregnant women. The elementary and junior high schools in my area have had vaccine days and there's just not enough to go around even for health care workers of any type, much less the general public.

[tfleuter, BSN, RN]

My school is requiring students to get the vaccine since our clinical sites are requesting it. Unfortunately our program is not offering this to us and I can only assume it is because they can't get their hands on it. Heck, up until this week, I couldn't find ANY clinic that was offering the vaccine in my county. Salt Lake County held several vax clinics this past Saturday to the public, specifically for children and those considered high risk. Something like 5000 people showed up just to one site that reportedly had only around 1500 to give out. Apparently in Utah there just aren't enough vaccines to meet the demand from what I am gathering. I can't really fault my school for the inability to offer the H1N1 vaccine if they themselves can't get ahold of it.

[izzycatswimRN]

My school is only requiring the regular seasonal flu vaccine. There are so few of those even right now that people are having to drive all over the place to get it. Very few doctors got the H1N1 and those are mostly peds clinics and ob/gyns it seems..obviously aiming at the high risk population.

[DolceVita, ADN, BSN, RN]

No provision for us to get it at my school and I would like it. But the supplies are trickling in very slowly and in my state seem to be aimed mostly at children and pregnant women. The elementary and junior high schools in my area have had vaccine days and there's just not enough to go around even for health care workers of any type, much less the general public.

But you are not the general public anymore if you are a nursing student providing direct patient care.

[tfleuter, BSN, RN]

But you are not the general public anymore if you are a nursing student providing direct patient care.

Tell that to my local county health department. We (nursing students) have been informed that we will not be given priority status over anyone else who shows up to recieve the vaccine.

[DolceVita, ADN, BSN, RN]

Tell that to my local county health department. We (nursing students) have been informed that we will not be given priority status over anyone else who shows up to recieve the vaccine.

Such a nice welcome to the profession!

My school says go to public health and public health says talk to your school...or better yet get your clinical site to vaccinate you!

[Multicollinearity, BSN, RN]

Tell that to my local county health department. We (nursing students) have been informed that we will not be given priority status over anyone else who shows up to recieve the vaccine.

Yes. When some of us went to the health department to get the H1N1 vax, we were told nursing students are not considered health care workers because the aim of getting health care workers vaccinated is to maintain the capacity of local hospitals to care for patients, and nursing students do not maintain the capacity for hospitals to care for patients. No shots for nursing students.

Our clinical site will only vaccinate their own workers because they don't have enough vaccine - can't blame them. And then our nursing program itself seems to have no idea that they should or would be involved in getting vaccine for students. Add to that, many of our nursing faculty are rabidly against the H1N1 vaccine, talking about GB and toxic adjuvants that could have been secretly put in the vaccine. But our nursing program is mandating us out a full seven days if we get flu-like symptoms, to adhere to the clinical sites requirements. But they didn't adjust our clinical absence policy. And we are caring for H1N1 patients in clinical.

:banghead:

I just need to graduate already! Six more weeks...