Nurse: 'I was fired for refusing flu shot'

lobianm · Jan 19, 2011

I got the flu shot and I got sick. I was miserable. I called employee health because I wanted it documented I did get sick after getting "the shot". They said they can't see me because I am sick and they do not see sick people. Then I told her my symptoms and she said "it sounds as if you got the flu". Thats the truth. Go figure.

linearthinker, DNP, RN · Jan 19, 2011

If you are going to work with any immunocompromised person, I think you have an ethical obligation to be fully vaccinated.

Anne36, LPN · Feb 15, 2011

pinksugar, I understand how you feel. I had to get the vaccine so I can support my family. Im only a student right now, but I have no choice in my own healthcare if I want to be a nurse. Does that make sense?

Anne36, LPN · Feb 15, 2011

lineearthlinnker that does not make any sense. Do immunocompromised people go to the grocery store, church, or ANYWHERE? If ALL the other patients in the hospital are not reciving the same vaccines as the nurses, then surely they would be at huge risk by just being in the hospital. Are all the people they are around getting vaccinated? Do Nurses tend to get sicker or many more of these illnesses than the general population? I seriously doubt it.

GreyGull · Feb 15, 2011

lineearthlinnker that does not make any sense. Do immunocompromised people go to the grocery store, church, or ANYWHERE? If ALL the other patients in the hospital are not reciving the same vaccines as the nurses, then surely they would be at huge risk by just being in the hospital. Are all the people they are around getting vaccinated? Do Nurses tend to get sicker or many more of these illnesses than the general population? I seriously doubt it.

In the hospital staff will have more than causal contact such as passing someone in a grocery store. The patients will be coughing while you are close to them doing routine care for several minutes and they may also be on oxygen devices or nebulizers that propel whatever the patient has directly at you in tiny particles.

However, crowded city buses are probably the worst places to try to stay healthy. In cities with a large Chinese population, the older riders will make sure all windows are open for ventilation even in the middle of Winter snce they are very aware of disease spreading in cramped areas or close contact for an extended length of time.

We also screen patients entering the hospital who meet certain criteria for the flu just as we also have a process for MRSA(ICU) and TB (LTC).

Anne36, LPN · Feb 15, 2011

A mask sounds like it would go a long way with or without a flu shot.

Laidback Al · Feb 18, 2011

lineearthlinnker that does not make any sense. Do immunocompromised people go to the grocery store, church, or ANYWHERE? If ALL the other patients in the hospital are not reciving the same vaccines as the nurses, then surely they would be at huge risk by just being in the hospital. Are all the people they are around getting vaccinated? Do Nurses tend to get sicker or many more of these illnesses than the general population? I seriously doubt it.

I would like to think that lineartthinker's point was a simple one, concern about the patient. A sick nurse would simply be inflicting another problem onto an already compromised patient. Aren't you all suppose to be first concerned about your patients?

Anne36, LPN · Feb 18, 2011

Laidback, I cant argue that the patient comes first. No Nurse wants to infect her patient. That being said do you know how many people I have read on this forum who complain about being forced to work sick? If you are serious then Nurses would not be allowed to work sick.

Laidback Al · Feb 18, 2011

Laidback, I cant argue that the patient comes first. No Nurse wants to infect her patient. That being said do you know how many people I have read on this forum who complain about being forced to work sick? If you are serious then Nurses would not be allowed to work sick.

Of course vaccinations would help keep nursing staff from getting sick.

I can't directly comment on the issue of nurses working while they are sick. I am not in the health care profession but I have certainly read enough posts here at allnurses to know that many nurses feel obligated to work while sick fearing for the loss of their jobs. It seems that administrators and supervisors also turn a blind eye and do not send sick nurses home because of staffing needs. There obviously needs to be a compromise solution that protects patients from infection by sick nurses and sick nurses deserve to call in sick and be treated like sick employees just like in any other industry or profession.

RN1980 · Feb 20, 2011

actually i think about my own saftey first and foremost..there is absolutley nothing in my job description that said i should expect to get injured or sick while at work.

Laidback Al · Feb 21, 2011

there is absolutely nothing in my job description that said i should expect to get injured or sick while at work.

All the more reason to be wary of slips, trips, and falls hazards and make sure you get all of your vaccinations of your own volition, not because you are required to have them.

RN1980 · Feb 21, 2011

laidback al, i agree with your "under your own volition"....you should not be forced to have a ******* flu shot under the threat of termination.