Is there really no way to refuse a mandatory flu shot?

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Besides the medical and religious reasons which are clearly only for a rare few, is there really no hope for the healthcare occupation and those who refuse under all circumstances to get a flu shot? I was looking online to find some solutions on how to opt out, but unusually I was not able to find any type of viable solution that I could particularly use except for possibly lying which may or may still not even work.

Gestapo at its finest. Lets just hope another vocation is hiring. Clearly this isnt the field for me, or at least the particular facility.

A sore arm that lasts for years is bad technique, not the vaccine.

Might have nicked a nerve or something.

Our hospital made it mandatory or you wear a mask. I'd suffocate in a mask all day.

You don't have to work someplace that makes it mandatory - and it certainly is NOT like the Gestapo. (My husband peeked over my shoulder and said "she has no idea who the Gestapo were and what they did").

I've gotten the flu shot for years with no negative side effects.

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One of my sets of great grandparents died in their 40s of the flu during the 1918 epidemic and they as well as anyone of their time would have given anything to have had the luxury of having a flu vaccine available. I get the flu vaccine and am up to date on all my vaccines to preserve my own health but also to protect those around me. I'd recommend to anyone with reservations about getting the flu shot or any vaccination to educate themselves at the Centers for Disease Control website. Also, as most of you may know, there is now an intradermal inactivated flu shot available for ages 18-64 (no sore arms), and there is always the intranasal attenuated vaccine which adults may take advantage of through age 49. Finally, to echo what other posters have said, we are in a field that involves health promotion and we have a duty to protect our patients, period.

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Specializes in LTC Rehab Med/Surg.

I really don't like being told what I have to do. I really hate being backed in a corner. I resent someone holding my job in their hand and saying "Do what I tell you to do, or kiss it goodbye". I even recognize how unreasonable all of the above is. There are hundreds of rules I follow daily, and don't give it a second thought. TB and hepatitis are two things I hadn't even considered.

The only thing I can figure out is I have excellent health. I'm rarely sick. Being vaccinated has absolutely nothing to do with my best interests. I'm forced to comply with a rule that does not benefit me one bit. The flu vaccine I'm injected with, is completely and totally for someone else's benefit.

And I can't say no without losing my job. To add insult to injury, the two times I've had the flu vaccine I've felt miserable. The symptoms might all be in my head, but they make me miserable anyway.

As to the original question, where I work the mask is still an option in place of the flu vaccine. I just can't wear that stupid mask.

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I sometimes wonder if we don't "think" ourselves sick.

When we talk about head lice . . .don't our heads start to itch? Yep.

When our kids get nausea and vomiting, doesn't our stomach start to feel queasy?

If we got the flu shot in a way where we didn't know we got the flu shot . . . .would we still feel puny?

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Very good comments from differing points of view.

We do encourage lively debate (and mandatory flu shots sure fits the bill).

Just be respectful. Thanks.

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There is another thread about this that started within a day of this one. Just an FYI.

https://allnurses.com/pandemic-flu/how-do-you-888947.html

And one from Oct.

https://allnurses.com/pandemic-flu/how-did-you-880913.html

The Pandemic Flu Forum obviously.

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I'm just curious as to why, in these types of posts, it's almost always the flu vaccine being singled out. Posts asking about refusing the MMR or tetorifice shots are few and far between if they exist at all. Those of you who are looking to get out of getting the flu shot, do you also refuse all other vaccines? And how do you handle working in facilities where frequently, anyone over the age of 65 is automatically ordered a flu vaccine unless contraindicated or where giving vaccines to patients is a required job duty? I just find the disconnect between promoting health (of which vaccines are a part) and wanting to refuse a vaccine confusing.

My facility doesnt mandate any other vaccine except the flu shot.. Thats why..Its almost too obvious why the flu.

And yes there are parts of the job you are against like giving certain medications for certain reasons. Not all parts of healthcare is 100% factual. I find it equally odd as you do that some providers follow completely everything their employers say without ever questioning as if their employers are supreme knowledgeable beings. Last I checked, we are all humans, we all make mistakes, so no policy for any facility will be 100% flaw-free. It is your duty that if you see something wrong with the procedures, you speak up or fight against. I mean, that is why you were hired right? To be more than just some yes-man/ma'am?

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One of my sets of great grandparents died in their 40s of the flu during the 1918 epidemic and they as well as anyone of their time would have given anything to have had the luxury of having a flu vaccine available. I get the flu vaccine and am up to date on all my vaccines to preserve my own health but also to protect those around me. I'd recommend to anyone with reservations about getting the flu shot or any vaccination to educate themselves at the Centers for Disease Control website. Also, as most of you may know, there is now an intradermal inactivated flu shot available for ages 18-64 (no sore arms), and there is always the intranasal attenuated vaccine which adults may take advantage of through age 49. Finally, to echo what other posters have said, we are in a field that involves health promotion and we have a duty to protect our patients, period.

Thanks for the info but at this point, there is nothing anyone in the world could tell me that could change my mind from my beliefs. I fully believe the flu shot is apart of a larger conspiracy to harm our population. Am I a conspiracy theorist? You bet I am. However unlike many conspiracy theorist, I dont spend all day trying to warn the world of the upcoming conspiracy. It usually waste more time and loses more lives than it saves. So because of that, I simply choose not to partake in certain deadly and evil acts that I believe them out to be. But when someone forces me to do just the opposite of that, then I am forced to share my beliefs and make others aware if that can save myself and others.

The TV is a tool for mass mind control. College is a breeding ground for propaganda. But no one is forcing anyone to go attend either of those choices. Now your telling me I cant get into healthcare? So be it, there has to be other occupations out there that exist. I fully intend to find them.

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Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.
My facility doesnt mandate any other vaccine except the flu shot.. Thats why..Its almost too obvious why the flu.

Really? They don't require MMR or Hep B, diphtheria? Pertussis? I guess I can't know for sure, but I find it hard to believe they done require any other immunization/titers?

Do they require PPD testing? Sure this is not a vaccine, but it still requires injecting a foreign substance under the skin. I mean, if someone is healthy why should they have to put them themselves through such a test??

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Specializes in Anesthesia.
Thanks for the info but at this point, there is nothing anyone in the world could tell me that could change my mind from my beliefs. I fully believe the flu shot is apart of a larger conspiracy to harm our population. Am I a conspiracy theorist? You bet I am. However unlike many conspiracy theorist, I dont spend all day trying to warn the world of the upcoming conspiracy. It usually waste more time and loses more lives than it saves. So because of that, I simply choose not to partake in certain deadly and evil acts that I believe them out to be. But when someone forces me to do just the opposite of that, then I am forced to share my beliefs and make others aware if that can save myself and others.

The TV is a tool for mass mind control. College is a breeding ground for propaganda. But no one is forcing anyone to go attend either of those choices. Now your telling me I cant get into healthcare? So be it, there has to be other occupations out there that exist. I fully intend to find them.

Where is your proof that this giant conspiracy exists? Where is your proof that college is a breeding ground for propaganda? And finally, Where is your proof that TV is a tool for mass mind control?

Historically, a society that wants to control its people will cut them off from media sources and neutralize or kill the academics up front. That seems to tell me that media and the academic institutions are the most likely ones to find faults/conspiracies first and not hide them as you would suggest.

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Specializes in critical care.
I really don't like being told what I have to do. I really hate being backed in a corner. I resent someone holding my job in their hand and saying "Do what I tell you to do or kiss it goodbye". I even recognize how unreasonable all of the above is. There are hundreds of rules I follow daily, and don't give it a second thought. TB and hepatitis are two things I hadn't even considered. The only thing I can figure out is I have excellent health. I'm rarely sick. Being vaccinated has absolutely nothing to do with my best interests. I'm forced to comply with a rule that does not benefit me one bit. The flu vaccine I'm injected with, is completely and totally for someone else's benefit. And I can't say no without losing my job. To add insult to injury, the two times I've had the flu vaccine I've felt miserable. The symptoms might all be in my head, but they make me miserable anyway. As to the original question, where I work the mask is still an option in place of the flu vaccine. I just can't wear that stupid mask.[/quote']

You understand that you can be exposed to the flu, not have symptoms, but still be contagious, right? Your immune system is strong. Good for you. Your patient's immune system isn't. You could kill them. This isn't a scare tactic. It's the truth. It surprises me to see posts like this. I was on the crunchy bandwagon of no flu vaccines, until I got to nursing school. Even if I'm rarely sick, it doesn't mean I'm not contagious with god knows what. The place I work won't have to have a mandatory policy - I'll vaccinate anyway, to protect my patients. I guess I don't understand why someone would fight this just to fight it. How does protecting your patients not benefit you???

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Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.
Where is your proof that this giant conspiracy exists?

The OP's diatribe about the conspiracy theory reminds me of the movie Dr. Strangelove where George C. Scott's character goes on a rant about how fluoridated drinking water was a plot by communists to poison Americans.

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