Mandatory Flu Shot

Published

  1. Should Healthcare Professionals Be Required To Take Flu Shot?

    • 14
      Yes
    • 12
      No
    • 0
      Unsure

26 members have participated

I have to say that I am completely outraged by the push for mandated flu shots. What happened to personal freedom, especially to make our own healthcare decisions? And please spare me the "it's about the patient's" **** ****. First of all, the vaccine is up to 60% effective on a good day and is supposed to create antibodies to 3 strains of the virus. Problem is, there is hundreds of them out there. Not only that, but the chances of you actually getting the flu is small. Think about how many people got the flu shot and still got sick. Works Great! Let me also make it clear, I am not "anti-vaccine" because I do feel they have a place in our society. The mandatory ones we get as children actually have a much higher success (i.e. MMR 95% +) and we only have to get a series of them ONCE! It is simply outrageous that we are mandated to get this shot EVERY year. Forced to inject myself with countless chemicals, every year for a false sense of security? People need to step out the herd and really educate themselves. Did you know that hospitals that require all employees to have flu shots have an incentive to do so? Try following the money.... The bottom line is, we are hired as healthcare professionals to educate, and execute healthcare on patients, but we can't make our own healthcare decisions? If a patient is admitted into the hospital he should be educated on the risks of the flu, and the risks/benefits of a flu shot. The patients are the ones who should be offered the vaccine upon admittance. Both of us being vaccinated against the same exact thing is over-kill. After all we are trying to protect the patients, right? Before you head the line of yearly injection, why don't you think about the effects it might have on your body 20+ years from now. Your guess is as a good as anyones......

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

If you head over to the Pandemic Flu Forum, you will find a wealth of posts on this very subject. My opinion is that no one's personal freedom is being compromised- the nurse/health care professional has the personal freedom to determine he/she is not going to get a flu shot. The facility has the freedom to determine said nurse/professional no longer meets the conditions of employment and terminate said employment. If one has such strong beliefs, the onus is on him/her to find a facility that is compatible.

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Thank you for your thoughts. I just think that with lack of evidence of effectiveness, facilities should not mandate it. And technically, I agree with you, that you have the freedom to choose where to work. I just don't think the facility should threaten people's livelihoods over a practice that is nothing more than guesswork.

Heading over to the other thread... Thanks!

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

thread moved for best response.....Welcome!

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Specializes in Anesthesia.
I have to say that I am completely outraged by the push for mandated flu shots. What happened to personal freedom, especially to make our own healthcare decisions? And please spare me the "it's about the patient's" **** ****. First of all, the vaccine is up to 60% effective on a good day and is supposed to create antibodies to 3 strains of the virus. Problem is, there is hundreds of them out there. Not only that, but the chances of you actually getting the flu is small. Think about how many people got the flu shot and still got sick. Works Great! Let me also make it clear, I am not "anti-vaccine" because I do feel they have a place in our society. The mandatory ones we get as children actually have a much higher success (i.e. MMR 95% +) and we only have to get a series of them ONCE! It is simply outrageous that we are mandated to get this shot EVERY year. Forced to inject myself with countless chemicals, every year for a false sense of security? People need to step out the herd and really educate themselves. Did you know that hospitals that require all employees to have flu shots have an incentive to do so? Try following the money.... The bottom line is, we are hired as healthcare professionals to educate, and execute healthcare on patients, but we can't make our own healthcare decisions? If a patient is admitted into the hospital he should be educated on the risks of the flu, and the risks/benefits of a flu shot. The patients are the ones who should be offered the vaccine upon admittance. Both of us being vaccinated against the same exact thing is over-kill. After all we are trying to protect the patients, right? Before you head the line of yearly injection, why don't you think about the effects it might have on your body 20+ years from now. Your guess is as a good as anyones......

You provide a lot of opinions with absolutely no corroborating peer-reviewed scientific evidence which is the cornerstone of healthcare and EBP. Efficacy and effectiveness of influenza va... [Lancet Infect Dis. 2012] - PubMed - NCBI

Your comments show a basic lack of understanding of flu vaccines.

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/misconceptions.htm

http://www.health.harvard.edu/flu-resource-center/10-flu-myths.htm

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It is within your right to quit your job if you don't agree with the policies of your employer. No one is forcing you to get a shot.

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I've read what you've posted. I still stand by what I've said. In fact your links corroborate what I've previously posted. I understand where you are coming from, I just don't agree with it.

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Specializes in Anesthesia.
I've read what you've posted. I still stand by what I've said. In fact your links corroborate what I've previously posted. I understand where you are coming from, I just don't agree with it.

Then provide peer-reviewed scientific evidence to refute my claims otherwise everything you have posted is just opinions and conspiracy theories. My links do not corroborate what you have previously posted. They show that you have a lack of understanding on how to interpret scientific literature if you can take these studies and say the flu vaccines are not effective and/or safe.

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Then provide peer-reviewed scientific evidence to refute my claims otherwise everything you have posted is just opinions and conspiracy theories. My links do not corroborate what you have previously posted. They show that you have a lack of understanding on how to interpret scientific literature if you can take these studies and say the flu vaccines are not effective and/or safe.

Influenza vaccines can provide moderate protection against virologically confirmed influenza, but such protection is greatly reduced or absent in some seasons. Evidence for protection in adults aged 65 years or older is lacking. LAIVs consistently show highest efficacy in young children (aged 6 months to 7 years). New vaccines with improved clinical efficacy and effectiveness are needed to further reduce influenza-related morbidity and mortality.

Efficacy and effectiveness of influenza va... [Lancet Infect Dis. 2012] - PubMed - NCBI

If your good with "Moderate" equalling "Mandate" then this discussion needs to end.

[h=5]What about people who get a seasonal flu vaccine and still get sick with flu-like symptoms? (CDC - Misconceptions about Seasonal Flu and Flu Vaccines | Seasonal Influenza (Flu))[/h]

  1. A third reason why some people may experience flu like symptoms despite getting vaccinated is that they may have been exposed to a flu virus that is very different from the viruses the vaccine is designed to protect against. The ability of a flu vaccine to protect a person depends largely on the similarity or “match” between the viruses selected to make the vaccine and those spreading and causing illness. There are many different flu viruses that spread and cause illness among people. For more information, see Influenza (Flu) Viruses.
  2. The final explanation for experiencing flu-like symptoms after vaccination is that unfortunately, the flu vaccine doesn't always provide adequate protection against the flu. This is more likely to occur among people that have weakened immune systems or people age 65 and older

It should not be mandated.

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Specializes in Anesthesia.

Influenza vaccines can provide moderate protection against virologically confirmed influenza, but such protection is greatly reduced or absent in some seasons. Evidence for protection in adults aged 65 years or older is lacking. LAIVs consistently show highest efficacy in young children (aged 6 months to 7 years). New vaccines with improved clinical efficacy and effectiveness are needed to further reduce influenza-related morbidity and mortality.

Efficacy and effectiveness of influenza va... [Lancet Infect Dis. 2012] - PubMed - NCBI

If your good with "Moderate" equalling "Mandate" then this discussion needs to end.

What about people who get a seasonal flu vaccine and still get sick with flu-like symptoms? (CDC - Misconceptions about Seasonal Flu and Flu Vaccines | Seasonal Influenza (Flu))

  1. A third reason why some people may experience flu like symptoms despite getting vaccinated is that they may have been exposed to a flu virus that is very different from the viruses the vaccine is designed to protect against. The ability of a flu vaccine to protect a person depends largely on the similarity or “match” between the viruses selected to make the vaccine and those spreading and causing illness. There are many different flu viruses that spread and cause illness among people. For more information, see Influenza (Flu) Viruses.
  2. The final explanation for experiencing flu-like symptoms after vaccination is that unfortunately, the flu vaccine doesn't always provide adequate protection against the flu. This is more likely to occur among people that have weakened immune systems or people age 65 and older

It should not be mandated.

Did you miss the whole thread? You are talking about geriatric 65+yr old people and their effectiveness rates with influenza vaccines. These people are some of the people we are trying to protect the most, because their immune systems do not work as well as they used to. In order to protect this population set you have to break the chain of infection. This is done through herd immunity especially by giving the HCWs influenza vaccines which the majority of HCWs are relatively young healthy adults with their effective influenza vaccine rates somewhere between 50-80+%.

Their are all sorts of "flu like" illnesses, but not many are as deadly as influenza hence not much reason for a vaccine for them.

Your whole reasoning is skewed and luckily for the rest of us goes against the CDC, WHO, and basically every professional medical and nursing society.

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How am I missing it? I understand that in certain circumstances, healthcare workers should be mandated to wear masks. Wouldn't wearing a mask be most effective than taking a flu shot and not wearing one?

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Specializes in Anesthesia.
How am I missing it? I understand that in certain circumstances, healthcare workers should be mandated to wear masks. Wouldn't wearing a mask be most effective than taking a flu shot and not wearing one?

No, you are again showing a lack of understanding of these concepts and perpetuating another flu vaccine myth. Surgical masks are only mildly effective in preventing flu transmission. That is assuming the masks are changed often, changed when they become even slightly damp (from sneezing or coughing), and worn correctly.

Disrupting the Transmission of Influenza A: Face Masks and Ultraviolet Light as Control Measures Protecting healthcare workers from pandemic in... [Crit Care Med. 2010] - PubMed - NCBI

Face masks to prevent transmission of influ... [Epidemiol Infect. 2010] - PubMed - NCBI

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