Flu Vaccine, enough already!

mindlor · Dec 11, 2011

WOW it shocks me that the word educated, and the phrase "refused flu vaccine" can be used in the same sentence LOL.....

Just get the dang vaccine sheesh o'moley

There are already bazillions of threads regarding this

AnxiousRNtobe · Dec 11, 2011

As an American, I believe it is my God given right to refuse any intervention that "The Man" tries to force on me - whether it's the vaccine against influenza or a vaccine against old timey diseases like pertussis or seatbelts or helmets when I'm on my motorcycle. They infringe on my absolute right to absolute freedom. And it is certainly another God given right for me to come to an anonymous website and tell everyone that my neighbor thought about getting a flu shot once and then GOT THE FLU!!!! See, proof positive!Let alone all the websites I can dig up that also prove my point that the flu vaccine is a moneymaker/government run test/scam/contains live virus/etc/etc/etc.

I worry about the health of the active, young nurses on this board so much more then I do about the patients that they encounter who are in the ED, the ICU, are on chemo or have HIV. The 30,000 or so deaths that the CDC estimates from the flu every year... who cares, I'm talking about MY rights here as a health care provider! Let's all refuse all the vaccines! And while we're at it, I'm too healthy to worry about TB so I'm going to stop wearing my mask!

mindlor · Dec 11, 2011

First of all an American includes the Canda, Mexico, and all of the central and south AMERICAN nations So I think you mean as a citizen of the USA. Second of all...God given? I think not....you get your rights from the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

That said you are correct. As a citizen you have the right to refuse. as a healthcare worker you have the right to get the shot or wear a mask all shift every shift. Also, you have the right to change careers.

AnxiousRNtobe · Dec 11, 2011

First of all an American includes the Canda, Mexico, and all of the central and south AMERICAN nations So I think you mean as a citizen of the USA. Second of all...God given? I think not....you get your rights from the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
That said you are correct. As a citizen you have the right to refuse. as a healthcare worker you have the right to get the shot or wear a mask all shift every shift. Also, you have the right to change careers.

Sorry, te sarcasm in my post did not come across well.

I don't know that Canadians or Mexicans or any other country has as much drama over vaccines as we do every year. I completely agree that a healthcare worker who is making a conscious (and "informed") choice to decline proven interventions like the flu vaccine or wearing a mask to protect against TB should be also be choosing a different career. To me, the drama is like teenage rebellion with the power of the Internet's anonymity vs proven science.

lifelearningrn, BSN, RN · Dec 11, 2011

We were just told that if we didn't get the flu shot and called in sick we would not get paid. I can't believe they are getting away with this.

If you refuse the flu shot, and end up with the flu, I can see them getting away with it. They gave you the choice, you chose to take your chances. Why should they have to pay for that choice?

There is a good chance you'll come across a lot of patients sick with the flu. If you're not vaccinated, you could not only contract it but spread it to other already sick patients.

I get it.

lifelearningrn, BSN, RN · Dec 11, 2011

Sorry, te sarcasm in my post did not come across well.

I thought it came across beautifully. :lol2:

jimthorp · Dec 11, 2011

People also already know about hand hygiene and using gloves yet hospitals continue to "bombard" their staff about the proper use of each, not to make money but to protect patients.
I believe that just as hospitals have the right to require proper hand hygiene to protect patients, they also have the right to set other requirements for the purpose of ensuring patient safety.
I'm not sure how hospitals make money off of mandatory flu vaccines any more than they make money off of requiring staff to wear gloves and use gel, they typically provide all these things for free making it more likely to cost the hospital money that it is to somehow bring in revenue.

.

Hand washing is a different animal than requiring employees to inject foreign subsances into their bodies. Where should the line be drawn?

Hospitals may not make a profit on flu vaccines but the drug manufacturers do. Hospitals, etc are not immune to the concept of financial kickbacks. I'm just sayin'.

jimthorp · Dec 11, 2011

If you refuse the flu shot, and end up with the flu, I can see them getting away with it. They gave you the choice, you chose to take your chances. Why should they have to pay for that choice?
There is a good chance you'll come across a lot of patients sick with the flu. If you're not vaccinated, you could not only contract it but spread it to other already sick patients.
I get it.

The flu vaccine does not prevent the flu.

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Dec 11, 2011

i never get flu shots, i never get my kids flu shots...except for last year, i decided we all would get them. well, last year was the first year any of us had the flu and we all spent a week on tamiflu and out of school/work regardless. coincidence? maybe, but we won't be getting the shot again. get it if you want, but don't force it on me.

since the flu vaccine uses a killed virus, which cannot replicate in the cells, then yes, it was a coincidence.

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Dec 11, 2011

yes, we are in flu season. and it seems you can't go anywhere without being bombarded/enticed to get the flu vaccine. a lot of times scare tactics are used also. they tried making it mandatory for nurses last season but that failed, thank goodness. then a friend went to a job interview, and a condition of employment was that she had to get the flu vaccine even though she did not want it.
yet recently, a healthcare employer (i have declined to identify) went as far as to offer employees who get the flu vaccine (at work), entry into a raffle for a hot electronic gadget. i just think its too much. people already know about the flu vaccine and have made an educated decision about whether they want it or not. flu vaccines have become extremely commercialized, which leads me to conclude that a financial windfall is being made somewhere. just sayin...

from some of the comments which are made about the flu vaccine, many of which are made by nurses, i have to disagree that everyone who refuses the flu vaccine has made an "educated decision" about it.

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Dec 11, 2011

I am from the generation that you lined up in the school cafeteria, and everybody got a smallpox vaccination until you had the telltale scar. I have the vac card from the WHO, listing that it took times before I got the pock mark.
I didn't realize until recently that they had stopped doing that, and that people had such objections. When we went overseas, we alays had to get vaccinated.

They quit giving the smallpox vaccine because they had eradicated the disease in most of the world through use of the vaccine.

jimthorp · Dec 11, 2011

From some of the comments which are made about the flu vaccine, many of which are made by nurses, I have to disagree that everyone who refuses the flu vaccine has made an "educated decision" about it.

Can you provide a study(s) that shows the effectiveness of the flu vaccine?