Mandated Flu vaccine?

massrn116 · Oct 14, 2011

I got severely ill about 5 years back post flu shot. Could not sit up without getting a severe headache. One thing led to another, neuro visits, CTs, MRIs, LP, being told it was stress, "tight neck muscles" went to chiropractor, sustained a subdural hematoma, had to switch nursing jobs, EMG hygromas by MRI,....needless to say I am more than hesitant to get a flu shot but I will get one if my employer will cover any adverse reactions/loss of income if I should have any type of reaction.

roser13, ASN, RN · Oct 14, 2011

I got severely ill about 5 years back post flu shot. Could not sit up without getting a severe headache. One thing led to another, neuro visits, CTs, MRIs, LP, being told it was stress, "tight neck muscles" went to chiropractor, sustained a subdural hematoma, had to switch nursing jobs, EMG hygromas by MRI,....needless to say I am more than hesitant to get a flu shot but I will get one if my employer will cover any adverse reactions/loss of income if I should have any type of reaction.

And you trace this all as to sequale to the vaccine?

allnurses Guide · Oct 14, 2011

I'm so glad my hospital hasn't started mandating flu vaccines. I've seen several patients get GB after a vaccine and don't want to take it myself. However Aurora has started mandating flu vaccines and they are a big player here. I hope this doesn't spread to the other hospitals. I hate how they take away rights and can force things on us that can be dangerous. We currently have to fill out a form if we got a vaccine and if not why not. I'm ready to get an egg allergy listed on my medical to protect myself from being mandated. That's how strongly I feel about the issue!
If you ever researched the history of vaccinations you will find out some unsettling things. Back in the day 1950's some vaccines had monkey kidney cancer cells, also in the third world countries like Mexico, South America, some poor women were given vaccines that were made to make them sterile, unable to bear a child. If they got pregnant a miscarriage would occur. Big pharma and the UN population control movement feels its ok to play God with people's lives, especially if they are poor!
I don't trust the vaccines we are given. With the last H1N1 vaccine the govt gave the vaccine makers total freedom from any liability with problems resulting from the vaccine. Yet we should be forced to take the vaccines, I don't think so. This is America and we should have the right to make an informed decision!

There were many ethical violations in the early days of medicine, and now there are laws in most countries to protect patients.

Medical professionals should base their decisions on legitimate peer reviewed research. Espousing unproven conspiracy theories is beneath us as medical professionals.

Vaccines are poor money makers for drug companies, but essential to public safety that is why the government offers lawsuit protection for vaccines.

Bortaz, MSN, RN · Oct 14, 2011

If you ever researched the history of vaccinations you will find out some unsettling things. Back in the day 1950's some vaccines had monkey kidney cancer cells, also in the third world countries like Mexico, South America, some poor women were given vaccines that were made to make them sterile, unable to bear a child. If they got pregnant a miscarriage would occur. Big pharma and the UN population control movement feels its ok to play God with people's lives, especially if they are !

Hey, welcome to 2011. Enjoy your visit.

MikeyBSN · Oct 14, 2011

I remember this being quite a debate back when H1N1 was going around. I have always been very much against a blanket mandate for health care professionals when it comes to flu vaccine. I don't consider myself a vaccine conspiracy theorist, but the flu vaccine is very different from other vaccines, and all vaccines have some inherent risk involved. Unlike other vaccines, you need to get the flu vaccine every year. Each injection brings its own potential for complications. So instead of rolling the dice once over a five, ten or twenty year period like other vaccines, you are rolling that die again every year.

The efficacy of the flu vaccine is also concerning. Although the flu vaccine is fairly effective when they pick the correct strain, the chance of picking the correct strain is only about 70 percent, not very high as far as I'm concerned, especially when it brings health risks that weigh against that 70 percent chance. Moreover, the flu vaccine does not, and never will, produce heard immunity. This is a medical fact. Where it is true that at least one study indicated a decrease in influenza among nursing home patients when staff are vaccinated, that is certainly not a reason to force every patient care provider in every setting to get a flu vaccine. I think infection control is important, but I simply don't see the logical support for this mandate. Again, I'm not a conspiracy theorist but you cannot ignore that fact that the flu vaccine is big business, and big business always exerts some undue influence. Even more concerning is the independent research supporting vitamin D as a way to help prevent all influenza infections. So not only is the "flu vaccine" largely ineffective as far as vaccines go, but may be completely unnecessary. I know some people support a mandated flu vaccine, many with good intentions. But I refuse to adopt the idea of getting jabbed with a vaccine every year just because one study shows it might help prevent influenza in one group of patients is sound practice, especially when that vaccine is not particularly effective and there are other non-invasive, non-pharmacological methods available. Nurses and doctors often complain about patient demanding antibiotics and other treatments that they really don't need, instead of taking a more conservative approach. Why should be so different with our own bodies and our own practices?

ladside, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN · Oct 14, 2011

I'm 40++++++++ years old and I have never had the flu vaccine nor the flu! I don't even catch colds! So, I, for one, am not about to let anyone start forcing me to treat/prevent crap that I never had. Obviously, my own prevention techniques are working just fine! If they want to start preventing something, how 'bout starting with these subzero temps in the hospitals that causes a lot of cases of nosocomial pneumonia....so much so that we run out of blankets in the middle of July!!!! What about the cases of flu that we get in the middle of the summer, yet we who are not getting immunized are not required to wear masks during those times? Let's just toss out the isolation carts and door tabs for the patients and just place an isolation cart at the time clock for the hospital staff!!! Or better yet, build a bubble around the hospital and isolate everybody who enters the building!!!!

roser13, ASN, RN · Oct 14, 2011

"how 'bout starting with these subzero temps in the hospitals that causes a lot of cases of nosocomial pneumonia"

Hunh?

Low temperatures "cause" nosocomial pneumonia? Could you elaborate on that process, please?

ladside, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN · Oct 14, 2011

We have soooooo many people that come in with one thing and end up with 'colds' so severe that the physicians diagnose them with pneumonia after being subjected to extremely uncomfortable temperatures on the general hospital floors. Just this summer alone, we had family members to bring in electric blankets and heating pads for their loved ones because it is soooooo cold and the nursing staff have no way of adjusting the thermostats because the 'main' hospital units takes over and engineering is the only ones to control it. We have the patient 'disatisfaction' scores to document this very issue.

pockunit, ADN, RN · Oct 14, 2011

We have soooooo many people that come in with one thing and end up with 'colds' so severe that the physicians diagnose them with pneumonia after being subjected to extremely uncomfortable temperatures on the general hospital floors. Just this summer alone, we had family members to bring in electric blankets and heating pads for their loved ones because it is soooooo cold and the nursing staff have no way of adjusting the thermostats because the 'main' hospital units takes over and engineering is the only ones to control it. We have the patient 'disatisfaction' scores to document this very issue.

So wait: they're cold and then develop pneumonia because they're cold? I don't think it works that way.

pockunit, ADN, RN · Oct 14, 2011

the chance of picking the correct strain is only about 70 percent, not very high as far as I'm concerned

You're telling me you wouldn't buy a lottery ticket with those odds? Would you get chemo based on those numbers? Prophylactic surgery? I sure would.

ladside, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN · Oct 14, 2011

You've never been so cold that you developed a runny nose, the sniffles, sneezing, etc? These people are already in the hospital for whatever reason and because we are always removing their linens for assessments, tests, etc. After a while these sniffles, sneezes, little coughs, etc., turn into something major....which prolongs their hospital stay after the doctor diagnoses them with pneumonia. Whether you think it works that way or not, it actually happens.

pockunit, ADN, RN · Oct 14, 2011

Developing a runny nose and developing pneumonia are two very different reactions to cold temperatures. And no, I've never started sneezing because I was too cold. I also don't develop colds or the flu if I go outside with wet hair.