Forced to get flu shot or wear a mask

[nurse0614]

Recently I heard our hospital will be forcing everyone to get a flu shot or they will have to wear a mask for their entire shift. I have had a reaction to it and usually just boost my immune system during flu season and this works well. I was told that even if we have had a reaction in the past and still don't get it, we wear a mask. This does not sit well with many of us at the hospital. Was wondering if others have experienced this and what they did.

[honeyforasalteyfish]

From what I have read this thread has been beat to death, and my post will probably be lost in the shuffle.

Its not that vaccines never cause side effects, or illness. It's that such things are extraordinarily rare, and usually mild compared to the diseases they protect against.

You are taking an extraordinarily small risk as an individual for the sake of population health.

I mean honestly if the flu vaccine causes serious complications the actual disease itself would almost certainly kill you if you contracted it.

Last time I got the flu vaccine I did indeed did get sick. I did take other vaccines at that time so it might not have been the flu one, but I showed none of the symptoms of the other vaccines.

I had a mild case of the sniffles for a few days, and I really can't prove it was vaccine related it just seemed like a suspicious coincidence timing wise.

I take immuno-suppressants, and I have suffered serious infections that have nearly killed me.

The origin of this bacterial infection was a case of pneumonia caused by a case of the flu that resulted in an 11cm lung abscess. This was before I took the vaccine.

When I took the vaccine I got the sniffle, and I don't even know if it's related.

Vaccines aren't perfect, but their benefits far out way a very minute risk. One the most important aspects of healthcare is population health. Vaccines are the best most proven way to promote that.

I am sorry you feel your rights have been violated, but honestly just deal with it. Mandatory vaccination for healthcare workers is a sensible rule that far outweighs any negatives.

[Anonymous865]

I wish I could get mine for free. Still, I get it every year because it protects me and it protects my medically fragile clients.

If you are in the US, the Affordable Care Act mandates that flu and other vaccines be covered without any copayment or coinsurance. Your insurance company can require that you get it from your provider or at certain locations, but it must be no cost to you.

Will the Affordable Care Act cover my flu shot? | HHS.gov

[brandy1017, ASN, RN]

Yes, some people who had had the flu shot have developed GBS. So have people who haven't gotten the flu shot. The fact that people who develop GBS after receiving the flu shot do so at about the same rate as people who haven't had the flu shot suggests strongly that the flu shot does not increase your risk (let alone, God help us all, "cause" GBS, as you state). People claim all kinds of reactions to vaccinations to the US vaccine compensations board -- just as people claim all kinds of side effects to other kinds of medications. The fact that someone experienced a health problem after receiving a vaccination or taking other kinds of medication does not, by itself, in the absence of some kind of pattern among lots of people over time, mean that there is a causal relationship between the vaccine or medication and the negative outcome. It really hard to imagine that you are an actual nurse and can't understand this stuff. Did you manage to get through school without any study of infectious disease or statistics??

If there is not a risk than why do they actually give a disclaimer presenting the rare risk of GB in the pamphlet when you are getting your flu shot? I don't remember for sure, but I do think they even mentioned the vaccine compensation board in the pamphlet from last year. Also they always used to give the flu vaccine without any written acknowledgement of possible side effects to the patients, but now every patient gets a handout mentioning possible side effects from the common and minor to the rare and the serious.

To those that aren't forced to receive the flu vaccines it is making the rounds and being promoted so it may be soon coming to you. Before I was aware of the risk of GB I had no concern about the flu shot, but after learning of it and witnessing first hand bad cases of GB and seeing patients who were permanently harmed from it I don't want the vaccine. Many of my fellow coworkers feel the same way, but most are not independently wealthy that they can quit or retire. All the healthcare systems where I live mandate the flu vaccine. While most who get GB will recover, it can be a long recovery of 6 months to a year and some do not recover, others recover somewhat but not fully.

[nursej22, MSN, RN]

My local grocery store has a walk-in clinic attached. They are offering 10% off of grocery shopping trip if I get a flu shot at the clinic. Going down to stock up tomorrow! Plus a former coworker is the ARNP there, so I get to catch up with her at the same time!

[carolinapooh, BSN, RN]

If there is not a risk than why do they actually give a disclaimer presenting the rare risk of GB in the pamphlet when you are getting your flu shot? I don't remember for sure, but I do think they even mentioned the vaccine compensation board in the pamphlet from last year. Also they always used to give the flu vaccine without any written acknowledgement of possible side effects to the patients, but now every patient gets a handout mentioning possible side effects from the common and minor to the rare and the serious.

Why? For the exact same reasons that drug inserts have all the crap on them they have. I've worked for a Clinical Research Organization and dealt with the FDA and INDs and ROBs. I take it you haven't.

When a new drug is in development, EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS TO A TEST SUBJECT is recorded. If they get gas, it's reported. Hiccups? Reported. If it's a severe enough medical issue (say Patient 8 gets hives - or cancer, even) that occurs while that subject is taking the drug, it triggers an Adverse Event Report (cancer is a Severe Adverse Event report) and that incident is reported in the potential side effects of the drug. When the trial is over, all of this stuff is reported as potential side effects because IT HAS TO BE REPORTED, as there is no way of knowing if that person got that effect from the drug or from somewhere else.

This is how you get adverts (which should be banned, IMHO) that say everything from sniffles to brain tumors can be caused by this drug. Not necessarily. Or you get adverts that say 75% got gas, and severe hair loss was seen in less than 1% of subjects - or whatever the insert says.

VAERS sort of works the same way. Enough cases of GB have been reported in flu vax recipients that they have to say there is enough evidence to suggest there may be causation via the flu vax. Also, enough SAEs have been reported that an automatic warning is issued with the vaccine. It's called due diligence.

While not foolproof, the system works well. And it's more than most of the countries on the planet have. It only exists in first world nations. The rest of the world - which is MOST of the world - is left out in the wind on its own, which is where organizations like WHO come in.

[featherzRN, MSN]

At my hospital it's mandated by the state that you get the shot or wear a mask. There's a sticker put on your badge when you get your shot. I just get the shot, my arm hurts for a day and I'm done.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

If there is not a risk than why do they actually give a disclaimer presenting the rare risk of GB in the pamphlet when you are getting your flu shot? I don't remember for sure, but I do think they even mentioned the vaccine compensation board in the pamphlet from last year. Also they always used to give the flu vaccine without any written acknowledgement of possible side effects to the patients, but now every patient gets a handout mentioning possible side effects from the common and minor to the rare and the serious.

To those that aren't forced to receive the flu vaccines it is making the rounds and being promoted so it may be soon coming to you. Before I was aware of the risk of GB I had no concern about the flu shot, but after learning of it and witnessing first hand bad cases of GB and seeing patients who were permanently harmed from it I don't want the vaccine. Many of my fellow coworkers feel the same way, but most are not independently wealthy that they can quit or retire. All the healthcare systems where I live mandate the flu vaccine. While most who get GB will recover, it can be a long recovery of 6 months to a year and some do not recover, others recover somewhat but not fully.

Your post is disingenuous. No nurse has ever been FORCED to get a flu shot. The nurse ALWAYS has the option to refuse.

Also, your risk assessment skills need work. You are FAR more likely to suffer serious consequences from influenza infection than you are from the vaccine, as are your patients. Do you understand basic statistics?

You also need to read this again a few times:

Yes, some people who had had the flu shot have developed GBS. So have people who haven't gotten the flu shot. The fact that people who develop GBS after receiving the flu shot do so at about the same rate as people who haven't had the flu shot suggests strongly that the flu shot does not increase your risk (let alone, God help us all, "cause" GBS, as you state).

[vanilla bean]

I LOVE watching the bubble. It makes me sad when there's not a good bleb.

It's wheal, people! 😉

[martymoose, BSN, RN]

curious- if you got GBS , from the flu shot, would you be covered under workman's comp? Or not, because you could have just been forced to wear a mask for the next 9 or so months...

That's a tough one.No win situation.

[martymoose, BSN, RN]

It's wheal, people! ������

But Bleb is more fun to say

[NursesRmofun, ASN, RN]

curious- if you got GBS , from the flu shot, would you be covered under workman's comp? Or not, because you could have just been forced to wear a mask for the next 9 or so months...

That's a tough one.No win situation.

IMO (without it having happened to me or anyone I know very well) - No, because you wouldn't be able to prove you got it from the flu shot, so they wouldn't cover you. I knew a young woman who had a severe case of GBS several months later. I don't think she even connected it with the flu shot. From what I understand, it can happen months later, after the injection.

[vanilla bean]

But Bleb is more fun to say

OK, I'll give ya that