Against vaccines:

Published

I have always wanted to become a nurse & finally took the leap this year. On top of having an anxiety disorder I get paranoid at the idea of having to get all these vaccines I hear nurses HAVE TO HAVE. I don't want to be injected every few years or whatever it is, not only for my anxiety disorder but for religious reasons as well. Should I just consider another career path because I know myself, I will not get vaccinated. Do they allow healthcare worker to "opt out" or decline vaccines?? Please help!! What options do I have?

Thank you kindly,

Nervous wreck!

Specializes in CVICU, Burns, Trauma, BMT, Infection control.

NBC had on the network news about a resurgence of measles that is caused by people refusing vaccines;

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26333787/

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I'm betting the OP has already run away at this point.

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Specializes in ED.

Just be reading your post, I would advise you against this as a career. Nurses are supposed to protect the public, and vaccines are for the protection of everyone. IF you have that much anxiety by getting a little injection, I wonder why you would want to get into a field that is full of needles, blood, and organisms. You would be a risk to your patients if you do not get vaccinated and although you have the right to refuse them, I would not want you to care for me or a vunerable family member.

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I tell people who don't want to get vaccines because they use a "natural" method that don't worry about the disease because it occurs naturally as well. It is natural to get the disease.

And do be careful letting employers know about your anxiety issues--they do not need to know your personal hx as long as it is under control.

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Specializes in ER.

Wow- thank all of you for your replies! Just wanted to clear a few things up. My anxiety disorder does not prohibit me from carrying on a job or just life in general, it actually effects ME more than anyone else around me because I mentally have to deal with things & implement my coping skills. However, I do know it is illegal to ask what type of religion a person is or to ask for "proof" that I attend a church, etc. I have done a ridiculous amount of research (there goes my anxiety again- LOL) and you can go to 100 different websites & get 100 different answers. Believe it not, I currently work for a medical technology company that studies & develops research for antibodies & VACCINES. That's why I cannot imagine injecting this "stuff" in me, let alone a poor helpless baby or a weak eldery patient because I know first hand their ingredients. I guess if I can get past that, I'll be ok....

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Specializes in LPN, Peds, Public Health.

First of all, you don't get poked every year or so. Td is done every 10 years, you only have the Hep series once, and thats it other than your child hood immunizations. You can sign a release to NOT have the Hep series, but working in the medical field I think you would want to have it. The risks of hepatitis are just far to great.

Where I work, you have to have proof of 2 MMRs and a Varicella, or positive titers of those.

Think long and hard about whether you really want to go into the medical field unvaccinated!

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

You would have a hard time teaching or working in Peds.

I had to have proof of immunizations or my titers drawn for MMR, Hep B and Chickenpox. When my hep B titer came back as low, I had to redo the series or face termination in my job as a professor.

Also, it is now recommended that all health care providers obtain a TDaP (Not just the Td) if they have not had a tetorifice shot in the last two years. I'm mentioning this because a previous poster stated she had not had a vaccine for 17 years. TDaP is now strongly recommended. This is because the rates of pertussis have grown so high lately, and the populations who are spreading the disease are teenager and healthcare professionals. The rate of pertussis in my state has increase 178% in the past 2 years.

A local peds unit/PICU had a breakout of pertussis that was linked to a nurse. This resulted in a 2 month old contracting pertussis (which was not dx early). The child went into respiratory arrest, was vented for sometime, went into arrest and seizures during the weaning process, and now has a seizure disorder.

So, you can see how your personal choice to not vaccinate and to chose nursing can affect many more people than just yourself or your family.

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Specializes in LPN, Peds, Public Health.
You would have a hard time teaching or working in Peds.

I had to have proof of immunizations or my titers drawn for MMR, Hep B and Chickenpox. When my hep B titer came back as low, I had to redo the series or face termination in my job as a professor.

Also, it is now recommended that all health care providers obtain a TDaP (Not just the Td) if they have not had a tetorifice shot in the last two years. I'm mentioning this because a previous poster stated she had not had a vaccine for 17 years. TDaP is now strongly recommended. This is because the rates of pertussis have grown so high lately, and the populations who are spreading the disease are teenager and healthcare professionals. The rate of pertussis in my state has increase 178% in the past 2 years.

A local peds unit/PICU had a breakout of pertussis that was linked to a nurse. This resulted in a 2 month old contracting pertussis (which was not dx early). The child went into respiratory arrest, was vented for sometime, went into arrest and seizures during the weaning process, and now has a seizure disorder.

So, you can see how your personal choice to not vaccinate and to chose nursing can affect many more people than just yourself or your family.

totally agree.

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Specializes in Home Care, Hospice, OB.
you should consider another career........i think your stance on vaccinations is absolutely wrong; however, i respect your wishes to refuse vaccination. however, you need to consider another career.

:yeahthat::yeahthat::yeahthat:

have you ever seen the effects of the diseases these vaccines, that you loathe and fear, prevent, up close and personal?:banghead:

you are an adult, but imho not vaccinating children is child abuse...explain to a kid why they are blind, deaf, or dying because mommy and daddy don't "believe" in vaccines or are beating the autism-link dead horse.:deadhorse

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Specializes in LPN, Peds, Public Health.
:yeahthat::yeahthat::yeahthat:

have you ever seen the effects of the diseases these vaccines, that you loathe and fear, prevent, up close and personal?:banghead:

you are an adult, but imho not vaccinating children is child abuse...explain to a kid why they are blind, deaf, or dying because mommy and daddy don't "believe" in vaccines or are beating the autism-link dead horse.:deadhorse

amen!!

sorry i keep posting but i am very pro-vaccination!!

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Specializes in Rural Health.

I respect your decision to not vaccinate yourself because that is YOUR personal choice. To each is their own.

However, when you go into nursing or any other direct patient contact field YOUR personal choices will effect each and every person you come into contact with. I do not want my family, friends and dear loved ones exposed to unnecessary diseases and illness because a person didn't believe in vaccinations.

Sorry to be so blunt but in healthcare you literally touch 1000's of people and I could not even imagine subjecting them to unnecessary tests, treatments and disease processes for no reason.

I also work OB and I just get sick to my stomach thinking of the potential transmissions to my mommies and babies if I was not vaccinated. Yikes.

Not only that - but vaccinations protect ME from my patients as well.

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Specializes in Psych, ER, OB, M/S, teaching, FNP.

Quote, "Wow- thank all of you for your replies! Just wanted to clear a few things up. My anxiety disorder does not prohibit me from carrying on a job or just life in general, it actually effects ME more than anyone else around me because I mentally have to deal with things & implement my coping skills. However, I do know it is illegal to ask what type of religion a person is or to ask for "proof" that I attend a church, etc. I have done a ridiculous amount of research (there goes my anxiety again- LOL) and you can go to 100 different websites & get 100 different answers. Believe it not, I currently work for a medical technology company that studies & develops research for antibodies & VACCINES. That's why I cannot imagine injecting this "stuff" in me, let alone a poor helpless baby or a weak eldery patient because I know first hand their ingredients. I guess if I can get past that, I'll be ok.... "

Just to clarify...You are right, an employer or school can not ask about religion or church attendance....unless you throw it out there as a reason not to participate in a requirement. So if you say "religious reasons", meaning you have put it on the table, then it can be asked about.

And I find it interesting that if you have anxiety in relation to this and you "cannot imagine injecting this "stuff" in me, let alone a poor helpless baby or a weak eldery patient because I know first hand their ingredients." That you actually work for a company that helps to make it!?!? I don't agree with abortions so guess what? I don't work where I may be required to participate. Your first post sounded like you were a "Nervous Wreck" about vaccines and wanted to use anxiety and religion to excuse from it. Now that you have heard some responses, you don't have anxiety that would cause any problems with nursing (and you can actually work with the stuff, helping to create something you are so adamantly against?) and you know all about these vaccines, and don't want them.

Perhaps I am taking this wrong but if it smells like fish.............

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