I've never gotten the flu shot, mainly because I've only had the flu once.
On another BB at school (maybe she reads this bb too!) I was told that I may have gotten the virus, brushed it off without getting sick and infected other people without realizing it. Her arguement was if I didn't do it for myself think of my patients and coworkers and do it for them.
Made me wonder how many people I might have infected all these years and am I selfish.
Is there any documentation of this?
I already acknowledge that the CDC recommends all health care providers get the flu shot. I didn't realize it was so we don't infect others and perhaps I should change my thinking.
Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.
We face a rather challenging conundrum here in the great white north. Our health authority came out with an edict that all staff who do not receive a flu shot will be sent home without pay should there be an outbreak in our unit, to remain there without pay until such time as a) they've had their flu shot and two weeks have passed, or b) until such time as the outbreak is over. For those who have had their flu shots who are still within the two-week immunity developing period when such an outbreak occurs, they will be sent home on vacation. Since we have sick leave very well defined in our contract, I'm not sure how they can force poeple to take vacation time due to a health related issue... And are they telling us that the N95 high-efficiency masks they make us wear aren't going to protect our patients (OR US!!!!) from airborne disease? For this I'm risking hypoxia, CO2 narcosis and pressure injuries to the bridge and tip of my nose, cheekbones and chin?
At any rate, the regional attendance program is not really structured to encourage sick staff to stay home. If one calls in sick and there isn't a manager available to speak to at that time, the next manager to work will be calling the sick party to ask what's wrong with them, just how sick are they, and when do they think they'll be able to come back. Then if a person calls in sick more than five separate times (incidences) in a year, or has a total of more than eleven sick days in fewer than five incidences, they get a letter from OHS&W requiring them to meet with management and OHS&W to discuss the excessive sick time, and discuss means of improving the employee's health to preclude such incidences in the future. This letter goes on the person's employment file as well. In some cases management has browbeaten people into giving them access to the mdical chart, which is guaranteed to be a Bad Thing. Hello people!!! We're halth care workers... we work with all manner of nasty pathogens and we are only human. We are going to get sick. Never mind the musculoskeletal injuries from inadequate staffing and poor planning...
Personally, as the parent of a liver transplant recipient, I automatically get my flu shot every year. In more than ten years of nursing, eight of them in PICU, I've never brought home anything and plan to keep it that way.
Specializes in Telemetry, ICU, Resource Pool, Dialysis.
I'd like some documentation on that. Do you have a source that there is such a thing as a carrier. That's what I'm worried about it, but I'm not sure if it's a myth or not.
It's worrisome that there are well people walking around spreading the flu. It would be a hard thing to research though, but I gather is you're posting on a nurses board, you have some facts??
Tweety, I don't have a source, but I seriously do not think you can "carry" the flu and not be symptomatic. I don't think it would be difficult to research, after all, there are specific diseases capable of being carried by an unaffected person, and some not. Like other posters have mentioned, you could have mild symptoms, and not realize you really have influenza, or infect someone else before you become symptomatic. I think it's a myth. It's been a few years since micro, but I'll try to look it up later. Tired now, long night.
And I actually think Typhoid Mary was something of anomaly. (Vaguely remembering a show I saw about her once)
Tha only selfish thing in my opinion is going to work or any public place and spreading the flu to others. To get it or not to get it is purely a personal decision. I was born in Asia and God only knows the multitudes of illnesses including all strains of flu I have seen in my growing years that makes all the infectious illnesses we in these country get scared of a walk in the park. I have yet to get my first flu shot. What I do for the most part all throughout the year is do my very best to proactively build my immune system so I can ward off or reduce the severity of the illness if it does come. Anyone, try AIRBORNE or Zycam the first sign of flu or cold? I saw it in a Disney forum.
We face a rather challenging conundrum here in the great white north. Our health authority came out with an edict that all staff who do not receive a flu shot will be sent home without pay should there be an outbreak in our unit, to remain there without pay until such time as a) they've had their flu shot and two weeks have passed, or b) until such time as the outbreak is over. For those who have had their flu shots who are still within the two-week immunity developing period when such an outbreak occurs, they will be sent home on vacation.
That would be a facility that I would be running from. I believe that's called blackmail!!
Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.
That would be a facility that I would be running from. I believe that's called blackmail!!
If it were the only employee-unfriendly policy that would be one thing, but sadly it's only the tip of the iceberg and because we have a regional model and a single employer (the province of Alberta, deny that as they may) it's hard to get away from. I've never worked for such a repressive regime as we have here. And we have more layers of bureaucracy than baklava has filo pastry!
Specializes in Telemetry, ICU, Resource Pool, Dialysis.
Hey, Tweety. I did some looking around, and found some information from the UK regarding asymptomatic infections. I must say, I am very surprised. See pg 54 in particular. I do think, though, that proper handwashing, and avoiding sneezing or coughing on your patient would prevent you from infecting them even if you were asymtomatic. I just truly believe that we need to be concentrating on making sure the truly at risk population gets vaccine, instead of using it all up on healthy health care workers. Compromised people are more likely to pick it up at the buffet line in their local resturant than they are from us if we all practice proper infection control at work.
NotReady4PrimeTime, RN
5 Articles; 7,358 Posts
We face a rather challenging conundrum here in the great white north. Our health authority came out with an edict that all staff who do not receive a flu shot will be sent home without pay should there be an outbreak in our unit, to remain there without pay until such time as a) they've had their flu shot and two weeks have passed, or b) until such time as the outbreak is over. For those who have had their flu shots who are still within the two-week immunity developing period when such an outbreak occurs, they will be sent home on vacation. Since we have sick leave very well defined in our contract, I'm not sure how they can force poeple to take vacation time due to a health related issue... And are they telling us that the N95 high-efficiency masks they make us wear aren't going to protect our patients (OR US!!!!) from airborne disease? For this I'm risking hypoxia, CO2 narcosis and pressure injuries to the bridge and tip of my nose, cheekbones and chin?
At any rate, the regional attendance program is not really structured to encourage sick staff to stay home. If one calls in sick and there isn't a manager available to speak to at that time, the next manager to work will be calling the sick party to ask what's wrong with them, just how sick are they, and when do they think they'll be able to come back. Then if a person calls in sick more than five separate times (incidences) in a year, or has a total of more than eleven sick days in fewer than five incidences, they get a letter from OHS&W requiring them to meet with management and OHS&W to discuss the excessive sick time, and discuss means of improving the employee's health to preclude such incidences in the future. This letter goes on the person's employment file as well. In some cases management has browbeaten people into giving them access to the mdical chart, which is guaranteed to be a Bad Thing. Hello people!!! We're halth care workers... we work with all manner of nasty pathogens and we are only human. We are going to get sick. Never mind the musculoskeletal injuries from inadequate staffing and poor planning...
Personally, as the parent of a liver transplant recipient, I automatically get my flu shot every year. In more than ten years of nursing, eight of them in PICU, I've never brought home anything and plan to keep it that way.