Mandatory Influenza Vaccine

Nurses General Nursing

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Hi - I am a nurse working in the UK. Every year I get asked to have the flu jab by my employer. This year particularly I felt that I could not say no and I felt bullied into having it.

I have since found out that in US it is mandatory in some hospitals - how common is it? There is debate about whether it should be introduced over in the UK.

I think that it should be individual choice. My main question is how widespread is mandatory flu jabs for health care professionals?

I want to bang my head against the wall every time I encounter someone in healthcare who complains about having to receive this incredible gift to humanity. Unless you have a legitimate medical contraindication there is just no excuse.

Never, ever underestimate the human capacity for idiocy. People will create conspiracy theories or "facts" completely out of thin air.

Again I think parenthood should come with mandatory testing and a license. The healthcare field should certainly be that way.

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Specializes in Gerontology.

I think I had some type of H1N1 the year it was going around. I say think because I was never officially diagnosed. But I know I never want to be that sick again in my life. Several days of fever, weeks of left over fatigue.

I remember one day of lying in the nice cold floor of the bathroom begging for dearth while my cat sat next to me saying

Make sure the food bowl is full Mama"

I never want to be that s7ck again.

I get my flu shot.

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Specializes in 25 years NICU 5 years Telephone Triage.

In my hospital in the US they require it. If you refuse it, you have to sign a declination form and wear a mask for the whole flu season if you work with patients. I think everyone should get the flu vaccine because the flu is deadly even if you are healthy. This year was really bad for flu related deaths.

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My employers force their staff to get the flu vaccination. You can decline if you have a valid documented reaction or some religious reason, but you have to wear a mask October through March. You cannot just choose not to get it and wear a mask, that is not allowed. I am a little surprised at how many people here are commenting that they are fine with being forced to get a vaccination. I am not an anti-vaccination freak, but I do not believe I should be forced to get this one. Most of my coworkers agree with me. There were so many people who received the vaccination this past season and still got ill. I never have my kids or husband get the flu shots either and they have never caught the flu.

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

The last time I didn't get a flu shot was 1992. I have asthma and it's vital that I get one every year. Not coincidentally, that was also the last time I got full-blown flu, and it was so nasty and lasted so long that I was in and out of the ER all winter with repeated asthma exacerbations. I decided then and there to make sure I got a flu shot every fall. It's been 26 years and I've gotten sick only a handful of times, and that was usually due to bronchitis/pneumonia. Best of all, I didn't have to deal with the guilt of bringing the flu to my patients. A win/win situation all around as far as I'm concerned.

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Specializes in Critical Care and ED.

You don't have to be an anti-vaxxer to know that the flu shot actually is not that great at preventing flu. There are too many variant strains. I get the flu shot every year, and I got the flu last year and was out sick for 3 weeks. Never been so sick in my life.

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You don't have to be an anti-vaxxer to know that the flu shot actually is not that great at preventing flu. There are too many variant strains. I get the flu shot every year, and I got the flu last year and was out sick for 3 weeks. Never been so sick in my life.

Yes, I know this, but 10% efficacy is a hell of a lot better than nothing. Every year there are stories like this and people use them as an excuse to not get the flu vaccine, thus making the flu that much more prevalent and deadly.

You might have been even sicker had you not gotten the vaccine.

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I didn't take the flu vaccine, and I did not get the flu. Nearly everyone where I work that took the "strongly encouraged" flu vaccine got the flu, some multiple times! I don't think it should be mandatory. I think proper hand washing is effective. I also think the "studies" are flawed. Big pharma stands to make a lot of money every year from "mandatory" vaccines. I don't want to put a vaccine in my body that is only 30-70 % effective. It's not worth the risk to me.

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I didn't take the flu vaccine, and I did not get the flu. Nearly everyone where I work that took the "strongly encouraged" flu vaccine got the flu, some multiple times! I don't think it should be mandatory. I think proper hand washing is effective. I also think the "studies" are flawed. Big pharma stands to make a lot of money every year from "mandatory" vaccines. I don't want to put a vaccine in my body that is only 30-70 % effective. It's not worth the risk to me.

Highly doubt they got the flu "multiple times" unless they have some sort of weird immune deficiency and really bad luck. Are you a nurse? If you are you should know this.

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Highly doubt they got the flu "multiple times" unless they have some sort of weird immune deficiency and really bad luck. Are you a nurse? If you are you should know this.

If you're a nurse you also shouldn't put "studies" in scare quotes. Again, pro-vaccine = pro-evidence-based practice = pro-science = pro-healthcare.

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If you're a nurse you also shouldn't put "studies" in scare quotes. Again, pro-vaccine = pro-evidence-based practice = pro-science = pro-healthcare.

You quoted the wrong person there.

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I didn't take the flu vaccine, and I did not get the flu. Nearly everyone where I work that took the "strongly encouraged" flu vaccine got the flu, some multiple times! I don't think it should be mandatory. I think proper hand washing is effective. I also think the "studies" are flawed. Big pharma stands to make a lot of money every year from "mandatory" vaccines. I don't want to put a vaccine in my body that is only 30-70 % effective. It's not worth the risk to me.

Surely you are not suggesting that getting the flu vaccine gives the person the flu or causes their risk of getting it to be higher. Give me a break.

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