Vaccines & a career in nursing.

[aerocats]

Hello!!

I just have a quick question. I'm keen on preparing for a career switch to nursing, but before I do so, my big concern at the moment is vaccination. I am anti-vaccine (I don't vaccinate my daughter) & I myself refuse to be vaccinated for Hepatitis B just so I can do clinicals for school or become employed as a C.N.A. or R.N.

I'm not here to listen to a bunch of hypocrites tell me I'm a whack job for not supporting vaccines. I'm asking this forum for a little help: WILL I HAVE A PROBLEM A) GETTING INTO NURSING SCHOOL W/ A PHILOSOPHICAL EXEMPTION FOR VACCINES? (I believe OSHA has a Hepatitis B vaccine waiver also), & B) WILL NOT BEING VACCINATED HINDER MY EMPLOYMENT OPTIONS?

One community college I'm interested in is telling me that the clinical sites won't accept me if I'm not vaccinated - which makes the education useless, obviously. All the same for R.N. school. I did ask the nursing department secretary here (Contra Costa College) for the name of the clinical sites & she dodged the subject easily - perhaps she didn't hear me, who knows - I will give her a get away free card, although I'm dubious.

I was fully vaccinated as a child (born in 1978, so standard schedule as of that 'era). Are there any other vaccines I'd need to 'worry' about for work, besides hepatitis B? I did have chicken pox as a child, so I won't be harassed for the varicella shot. I do know I was vaxed for MMR, DTP, IPV, & HiB.

Thank you for your HELP!

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Your advisors are absolutely correct. Hospitals require vaccinations. This is to ensure the safety of patients as well as staff. We are morally obligated to do all we can to avoid causing harm to the people who trust us to provide their care. Just imagine how awful it would be for a pregnant woman to contract rubella from a health care professional when it could be prevented very easily. I am old enough to have seen worked in the pre-HepB vaccine days and witnessed 2 co-workers contracting this from patient exposure - one was fulminant, and resulted in death in a very short time.

You may want to re-think your career choice if you do not believe in the science behind vaccination. I completely respect your right to your own beliefs, but perhaps you would be better suited to a career in alternative/complementary health instead of nursing, which is based on "hard science".

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

No one can force you to get a vaccine and you certainly aren't the only anti-vaccine person out there. Most schools and hospitals around here make you sign a waiver stating that you object to the vaccine and you acknowledge you are putting your self (hepatitis is very easily transmitted from patient to nurse) and your patients in danger (we put our patients in danger when we refuse the flu shot, because if we give our sick patients the flu they could die). Yes, they do use those exact words.

On a side note you might get a few posts here, which you might take as a personal attack, so be prepared for that because most people and nurses in particular follow CDC recommendations and are not anti-vaccine. I would just ignore them and not get defensive. You're entitled to feel as you do. But no need to call the rest of us hypocrites either. I hope that people will just answer your question without judging you and visa versa.

Good luck to you.

[hatingthewaiting]

Short of Hep B, you have what you're going to need for school & clinical sites. That said I HIGHLY recommend getting the Hep B vaccine if you plan on being an RN. I had a needle stick w/a Hep B positive patient in my first rotation and knowing I was immune was such a relief. I had a titre 6 weeks prior since I didn't want to track down my vaccination records, and knew I had adequate immunity. All the people I spoke with, RNs on the floor, ER MD, ER RN, my instructor, all of them stated they'd had needle sticks and said almost everyone does it at least once. Also, for my school, Hep B was REQUIRED in order to do clinicals. I heard that Kaisers in the South Bay area don't require flu vaccines, according to the RN's I spoke with during my rotations there. If you had chicken pox, you will need a titre to prove immunity as well. I have heard of some not showing adequate antibodies depending on how many years later it was though. I have heard of some hospitals in the SF Bay area requiring flu vaccines, but I am unsure as to which since I have not encountered it being required of me.