Immune suppression, vaccines, clinical

[bexx_b]

Hi,

I'm about to start Nursing school next week.

I also have severe ulcerative colitis and I am on Remicade every 6 weeks. As a result of the Remicade I am not able to receive any live vaccines. My recent titres show that I have no immunity to mumps, and was indeterminate for rubella.

Can they deny me clinical placement -- and subsequently employment down the line -- because I cannot receive these vaccines? I absolutely would get them if i could, but I can't come off Remicade.

The school I'm attending has been absolutely no help; they say they've never been asked about this situation before and have nothing to compare it to, so they cannot guarantee me placement until the time comes.

I'm just very frustrated and hoping someone else has gone through this. Any of the threads I've searched so far have been about students who wish to not receive the vaccines for personal reasons.

I'm in Ontario, for reference.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

Wow, tough bind! Generally speaking, YES you can be denied access to a clinical site for school without having documentation of immunity to certain communicable diseases, regardless of the reasons you don't have the immunity. The one exception I've seen fly is when someone has documentation of multiple attempts at vaccination and a series of titers show the person to be a non-converter. Not common, but it does happen; in that case, they are allowed in with lots of disclaimers signed.

Perhaps Canada is different than the States when it comes to employment......in the US, it is well within the rights of an employer to deny employment to any individual who does not meet their health guidelines, including vaccinations. You'll see that discussed here ad nauseum every time flu season opens up!

I hope you find something that may help.....good luck!

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

When you go in to discuss this with your dean be sure to have something in writing from your physician. Also, the Remicade people may have some position papers regarding this in their patient education section, or you can contact them for some input.

Generally speaking, people with incompetent immune systems (this is a technical term, not pejorative) should not seek to go where there are a lot of nasty germs about. Think about that, too. You have to get through nursing school to be able to get a nonclinical job.

[NurseGirl525, ASN, RN]

You have to understand it's not the school, it's the clinical facilities that require these vaccines and I'm going to say you are going to probably be denied placement. Your school probably can't tell you because theyay not have the clinical locations secured yet. Go and talk to the dean but I wouldn't get your hopes up.