ALL NURSES this affects all of you

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I am a nursing student in NY about to take NCLEX in a few days. In New York they passed a bill about the Mandatory Flu Shot. I am all for patient safety and preventing a world wide Invasion (u know that movie with Nicole Kidman) get your shot kind of sickness but this is ridiculous and the fact that it happened in NEW YORK CITY first scares the crap out of me and seemingly out of the blue. I see this issue is posted in the Pandemic section but this is a general nursing concern because I mean once again:

it happened in NEW YORK CITY first, it can definitely happen to you in your state

what else are they gonna mandate?

that's why I think it should be in the general nursing forum section...

off my soapbox now and retreating back :chair:

does anybody else see where I am going with this... I mean where does this end because this shouldn't have begun

this can get ugly relatively quickly.

And it could be your state next with a flu shot or something else

Thoughts????

Specializes in PICU, NICU, L&D, Public Health, Hospice.

Ugh...what an ugly situation! I have a difficult time believing that these employers can actually threaten the employment of someone for refusal to obtain a vaccine that is considered "recommended" and not "mandatory" by the CDC. Additionally, the hospital certainly could not have had influenza vaccination as part of it's employment agreement with nurses in advance of this situation, so what can they possibly use to support their case for this type of harassment? As well, it is not my understanding from reading the information from the NY board of health that anyother hospital employees are "mandated" to receive this vaccine, including those who have direct patient contact. Sounds like a good legal review is going to happen here.

While I support the concept of immunizing as many HCWs as possible in order to provide safe care for patients and decreased spread of influenza in the acute inpatient setting, I DO NOT support overreaction to this situation and employer abuse of staff.

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Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.
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Sister???? More like "bro", but thanks for the vote. :smokin:

Oops...brodder....:D

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Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.
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I wonder if one of the reasons for the "heavy-handedness" of employers insisting on no vaccine/no job, is that maybe they are worried about lawsuits. We all know that nurses get blamed (rightly or wrongly) for every hospital infection. If a pt dies from H1N1, even if they had it before they came into the hospital (or if visitors gave it to them), would a pt's family have a successful lawsuit because one of the nurses that took care of Granny had not been vaccinated?

How can one prove that Granny didn't get it from the grocery clerk she saw the day before or the 2 year old baby at Target when she went for the 2 for 1 special?

They sure would try to sue, but there would be tooo many instances where Granny could pick it up.

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Specializes in cna /ltc/ltac hospital.

Its mandatory to get a flu shot where i work, if not there goes your job. And its not just the nurse, the cnas,rts,ots..etc.. all health personel! I had no choice, but couple nurses had put their 2weeks notice in.What im worried about is the H1N1:no:

ps.i live in kentucky

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Specializes in Pediatrics, ER.

I quit my job tonight. Management sent an email saying effective 10/15 if we opt not to get a flu shot then have to wear a mask our entire 12 hour shift for all interaction with coworkers/patients throughout the flu season. No thanks. Good thing I work two other places. I'll leave nursing altogether before I will let someone dictate what goes in me. My body, my choice. This is just step one of seeing how much people will put up with and creating mass hysteria. I choose to take a stand now. No flu shot for me.

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Specializes in PACU, ICU,UTIL.REVIEW,INFECT.CONTROL.
i do not understand this argument. all the places i have heard of are giving employees a choice: shot or mask. i do not see what is so wrong with that. now, if there are places that i am not aware of that are truly mandating the shot, or you are fired, then i would have a problem with that. this is all about choice. you can choose to get the shot, you can choose to wear a mask, but you do not have the right to choose not to protect your patients for a disease that could kill them, especially when you could be contagious with that disease before you even show symptoms.

purple scrubs, listen. listen, listen.. you are now hearing!!! new york state has mandated seasonal and h1n1 {when available} for all healthcare workers. i, am one of those at at a nyc hospital who must take the vaccines by november's end or be terminated!! no joke, no rumor,no choice...i must be vaccinated or be fired..do you hear

..f-i-r-e-d:angryfire!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:angryfire

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Specializes in ED.
purple scrubs, listen. listen, listen.. you are now hearing!!! new york state has mandated seasonal and h1n1 {when available} for all healthcare workers. i, am one of those at at a nyc hospital who must take the vaccines by november's end or be terminated!! no joke, no rumor,no choice...i must be vaccinated or be fired..do you hear

..f-i-r-e-d:angryfire!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:angryfire

a lot of people aren't even paying attention to what's going on. the ny regulation, illegally passed imo, doesn't even give you the right to opt out for religious reasons.

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Specializes in home health, dialysis, others.

I wonder what they would do to people like me - - I am allergic to eggs and have never had a flu shot.

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Specializes in Med Surg.

I thought I read somewhere that someone had started legal action to stop this. Is there any action on that front?

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