Should I get Varicella titer, MMR titer, Flu shot, Tdap shot in one day??

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Hi everyone, my nursing program requires me to get the Varicella titer, MMR titer, Flu shot, and Tdap shot before the program begins, and I schedule an appointment with a clinic to have all four shots given to me on one day.

Do you think it is wise to have them all given to me in one day?

Specializes in L&D/Maternity nursing.

like others have said, the titres are just blood draws, and depending on those results, you at the very least will be getting two shots, and at most four.

I would get them all if I had to (my titres were sufficient). You may feel a lil crummy for the rest of the day, but nothing that a full night of sleep can't cure.

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as has been mentioned ad nauseum on this board, school's can't require them but clinical sites can. since it's impossible to pass nursing school without clinicals, proof of vaccination very well may be required for a program.

and again, no...they may scare people with the word required but in reality there are laws to protect those that refuse. :)

state vaccine requirements - national vaccine information center

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True, you can choose not to get them and the school or clinical site can choose to dismiss you from the program for not meeting the criteria of having them. This semester we were required to get the Flu shot as well. It was a hospital requirement, therefore it became a school requirement. You didn't have to get it, but than the school would drop you. There were a few exceptions that would allow you to not have to have the shot.

Sure, the school can do whatever they want. But since there are laws protecting those who refuse, the student can turn around and sue the school. Same goes for the clinical site. Laws are there for a reason and if these places don't comply, then they can be sued. Just like if my kids were denied entry to school because they don't have certain vaccines, I can sue. I know this kind of thing isn't common knowledge and all I'm trying to do it give the other side.

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Specializes in L&D/Maternity nursing.

I am kinda shocked that hospitals are still "requiring" the flu shot personally, or that schools are using the hospitals/clinical sites as excuses. I just recently had my physical at employee health and the flu shot at my hospital is optional (though strongly encouraged).

If you are against this vacc, then look into your state laws and cite them as reason for declination.

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I am kinda shocked that hospitals are still "requiring" the flu shot personally, or that schools are using the hospitals/clinical sites as excuses. I just recently had my physical at employee health and the flu shot at my hospital is optional (though strongly encouraged).

If you are against this vacc, then look into your state laws and cite them as reason for declination.

Since nursing students are guests at hospitals, they don't fall under labor laws, and hospitals aren't schools, so educational laws don't apply....which laws exactly should folks cite?

I'm curious as to why you'd think of it as an excuse. If a hospital requires vaccination...what on earth could a school do about it?

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and again, no...they may scare people with the word required but in reality there are laws to protect those that refuse. :)

state vaccine requirements - national vaccine information center

yet you've never been able to tell me which laws the hospitals are required to follow. nursing students are not hospital employees, so labor laws don't apply to them. hospitals are not university's so educational laws do not apply to them.

nursing students are guests of the hospital and as such the hospital can make any requirement they see fit.

show me a law that deals with the guests of hospitals and i'll believe you.....but as one doesn't exist. hospitals can require nursing students to be vaccinated, no matter what that same website you post each time says.

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Specializes in L&D/Maternity nursing.

if students are only guests of the hospital/clinical cite, do visitors also need to be vaccinated as well? If the answer is no, then the students should also receive the same courtesy as any other hospital "guest."

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if students are only guests of the hospital/clinical cite, do visitors also need to be vaccinated as well?

The hospital could require it....it would be staff intensive to enforce (unlike with nursing students where all your information goes to the hospital via the school of nursing)....but they could require it.

The point is there's no law that stops them, what would stop them from requiring all visitors are logistical factors.

Obviously there are further requirements of nursing students than there are for hospital visitors, not just vaccinations, but also BLS, HIPAA training, training on their computer systems, etc.

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
I am kinda shocked that hospitals are still "requiring" the flu shot personally, or that schools are using the hospitals/clinical sites as excuses. I just recently had my physical at employee health and the flu shot at my hospital is optional (though strongly encouraged).

If you are against this vacc, then look into your state laws and cite them as reason for declination.

This is the first semester it was required at my school. The hospital just started doing it this Flu season. Unlike the other shots they allowed a few exceptions.

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Specializes in L&D/Maternity nursing.
The hospital could require it....it would be staff intensive to enforce (unlike with nursing students where all your information goes to the hospital via the school of nursing)....but they could require it.

The point is there's no law that stops them, what would stop them from requiring all visitors are logistical factors.

Obviously there are further requirements of nursing students than there are for hospital visitors, not just vaccinations, but also BLS, HIPAA training, training on their computer systems, etc.

I am aware that there are certain requirements of students while in school-I am all too fresh out of school myself. I think that most students follow them no problem-its not really worth the fight IMO. But of someone wanted to actually fight this issue, they'd have my support, especially if there are state laws protecting employees on this matter. I know that students are not employees and I admit that I am ignorant about labor laws in general, but are not students essentially free labor when in the clinical setting? There are after all taking over nurses duties under the premise of learning. I would hope that because of this, there would be some sort of loophole to protect students under the law.

I remember in 2009 during the huge H1N1 scare, my school strongly encouraged use to get the vacc (as well as the regular flu shot). It still wasnt required. No hospital in my area required this of their employees, although again, it was highly encouraged. If you didnt get it, then you had to wear a mask, which IMO was a fair alternative. Many of my peers in fact opted to decline and wore the mask.

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I am aware that there are certain requirements of students while in school-I am all too fresh out of school myself. I think that most students follow them no problem-its not really worth the fight IMO. But of someone wanted to actually fight this issue, they'd have my support, especially if there are state laws protecting employees on this matter. I know that students are not employees and I admit that I am ignorant about labor laws in general, but are not students essentially free labor when in the clinical setting? There are after all taking over nurses duties under the premise of learning. I would hope that because of this, there would be some sort of loophole to protect students under the law.

I remember in 2009 during the huge H1N1 scare, my school strongly encouraged use to get the vacc (as well as the regular flu shot). It still wasnt required. No hospital in my area required this of their employees, although again, it was highly encouraged. If you didnt get it, then you had to wear a mask, which IMO was a fair alternative. Many of my peers in fact opted to decline and wore the mask.

They're not considered free labor, because they don't replace a licensed nurse. No matter that the student nurse is doing some of the work of an RN (even if they're a senior and doing all of the work of an RN), it's the RN that still has the responsibility for it....so, it's not like the RN could take more patients because they have a student. Students are not, in any way, considered employees and do not fall under labor laws.

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Specializes in N/A.

I don't see why you could not have them done in the same day. The titers are a blood draw, the others are vaccines...as has been point out. The military gives several different shots in one day to their forces all the time. When we went to Korea I had to have a PPD, Typhoid, Td, and flu all the same day. I can remember my husband being a human pin cushion before deployments.

I just had blood draw for MMR & Varicella titers.... and a PPD. I'm 50 so have actually had Rubella,(3 day measles or German measles) mumps, and varicella. Not Measles however. I've had a MMR vaccine and Td when I began doulaing in 2007 and I've had the full Hep B series. I'm not sure yet if we can wait until fall for the newest flu vaccine or not. I'm not crazy about being forced to take the H1N1 after talking with Dr. Bob Sears at the DONA Conference in 2009.... but there is no choice if I want to remain in my program.

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