I'm trying to register for the last semester of classes at the university, but they won't let me until I have the DTaP vaccination.
Whether you believe in vaccinations or you don't, this really isn't about that. It's about trying to reason with beaurocracy.
When the woman (I don't know if she was an instructor or part of the clerical staff) told me that it wasn't the school's rule, I asked her who's rule it was. She told me it was the rule of the hospital where the clinicals would take place.
#1. This seems odd to me, because I was hired on at this very same hospital (I don't work there now, no I wasn't fired) and getting a DTaP vaccine never came up.
#2. I only have one class to take (Professional Leadership) and I'm most certain it is not going to require going to the hospital.
#3. What was with all this crap shoved down our throats in Community Health Nursing about respecting and honoring diversity and others' beliefs, even those such as JWs who don't accept blood products?
#4. I read one of the SE's can be seizures. Since I already have seizures (the staring kind) I wouldn't think I should expose my little body to more substances that might cause more seizures-wonder of that would be a valid argument?)
I had to get this vaccine before starting work at my current facility. We also had an out break of pertussis in my state previous to that, and I was one of the unlucky winners. Not fun..
I'm biased I suppose, because I think vaccinations are a good thing. I have to admit, this hysteria over vaccines annoys me. How many children lost their lives in years past due to diseases that we now vaccinate against? Take a walk through your local cemetery and look-way too many. And I don't buy the argument that vaccines cause autism..they've never proved a link. Could just as easily be something viral, due to past drug use/abuse by the parents, additives to food etc.
At any rate, I think the OP should mention this to her doctor, if she's cocerned about seizures..it may be a very low risk of occurence but can't hurt to check.
I was told at my school that Tdap(not Dtap, which is for peds)is a requirement starting winter '09, for all nursing students who got their DT vaccine more than 2 yrs ago. The new one is similar to DT except for the addition of antibodies against pertussis (aka whooping cough), which is making a comeback especially in folks like me who were born in the 1970's and were never vaccinated against it.
=============
Tdap is for adults and Dtap is for peds. is correct.
Tdap is safe , we give it to people age 18 & over and to postpartums even if they're breastfeeding.
Pertussis is on the comeback here in the USA...which is why we offer it to adults, male & female (as long as their last Td was 2yrs. ago or longer) in order for them to have the added protection of the pertussis vaccine. It's a devastating disease for an adult, much worse (possibly fatal) for a child.
Also, a baby will not get its first Dtap until it is two months old. What better form of protection for the mom and dad and other adults that will be around the baby than for them to be updated on their Tetorifice shots, which now has the added protection of pertussis added to it?
The CDC and Health Dept.'s across the nation know that most adults usually forget to update their Td shot and this is a great way of providing added protection !
Here's what I hear from our pt.'s all day long -
Me: "When was your last tetorifice shot?"
Patient: "Umm, I really don't remember...probably back in high school,"
or, "when I cut myself and went to the ED."
I respect the right of anyone wanting to decline any vaccination.
But, if I may, I'd really like for all who are reading this to think back to how long ago it's been since you updated your Td?
If it's been 2 yrs. ago or longer, please consider getting a Tdap.
"In just the last week, administrators at Maine Medical Center's outpatient surgery center in Scarborough confirmed a case [of pertussis] in an employee that prompted them to send home another 40 who were experiencing possible symptoms of the respiratory illness, which at first is similar to the common cold." 11/28/08
Perhaps the OP's hospital is not only trying to protect patients but to avoid employee situations like this one.
Yes, the OP does have the right to refuse vaccines. She doesn't have to work at hospitals that require them, either.
All I have to say is I had to have a prostate exam(if your not familiar its when the doctor says "bend over you are gonna feel a weird sensation at the tip of your *****":eek: when I went through the roof:argue:!!!!!!!!! I was 24 for goodness sakes:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire to get into nursing school including multiple vaccinations and titers ect. And believe you me I DONT BELIEVE IN THAT AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So I say suck it up butter cup, no offense just the way it is if you want to be a nurse.
I have to admit that I hate needles. I break out into a cold sweat at the very thought of needing a shot. (Something I'll have to get over if I want to be a nurse, I know!) However, you better believe I got every single vaccination my school requires. I also chose to receive the Hep B series even though I technically wasn't required to get it. I don't want to be infected with anything and I certainly don't want to infect anyone else. Also, even though it totally upsets me to see my children cry every time they get a shot, I still make sure they stay on schedule. I can respect the fact that it is your choice not to be immunized, but I also believe that a lot of illnesses already are or will be making a comeback because more and more people are choosing not to.
It's nice of the secretary to check into this for you. If I were her, I wouldn't feel much of a sense of urgency to check into this for a student who has known the requirements for months or years. I sincerely hope that you get a favorable decision and will be able to complete your studies. If you take the time to properly address this issue by getting a physician's note now, you will save yourself untold grief when you apply for jobs and have to be cleared by Occupational Health to begin your orientation.
Oh my, what it must be like to live such a flawless exemplory life...
I don't feel the need to even dignify this comment, really, but for the record I'm only at the U for two semesters.
How on earth did you complete clinicals without being required to have the shot in the first place? It seems this might have been an oversight on the schools side and is just now catching up with you.
My nursing school required us to provide proof of immunizations before we could even be admitted into the nursing program. Anyway I hope it works out for you.
I got through LPN school, I got through RN school (associate degree level), I've been employed at several institutions.
At the university health clinic I worked at, we did all the vaccination checks for the nursing students. If someone wanted to refuse a shot,, they had to provide a medical reason, and have the form signed by a doctor (pregnancy was included), or a religious reason and have it signed by clergy.
There was always that option available. If these apply to you, I believe that should take care of the problem.
I gave them a letter declaring a religious reason and (the secretary) has said the school will not accept it, but I think she is wrong.
Unfortunately hospitals do not have to honor your "religious' beliefs or a medical exemption regarding vaccinations. Our hospital now requires that any member who works with children must have the DTaP vaccination, although I have strong religious convictions as well as a medical exception the hospitals response is they can move you to an adult unit.
I have seen an increase in what hospitals deem necessary for patient protection, my questions are always if we use proper PPE how does this put the patient or ourselves at risk? I have high titers for pertussis because I am in contact with children who have this virus yet titers are not acceptable evidence of immunity. I fear that soon hospitals will insist on the flu vaccine. Soon the profession will loose another nurse because I won't go against my beliefs.
I have no interest in working with children. I do not believe the professional leadership class will require me to work with children, or even at the hospital for that matter.
Actually, people born in the 70's were vaccinated for diptheria, pertussis and tetorifice. The immunity for pertussis wears off just as it does for tetorifice. That is why people are being revaccinated.
If Golytely's PCP will write a note, she's off the hook. it is the pertussis omponent that is most likely to cause problems. Even children with neuro issues like seizures are given the alternate TD vaccine. I do think it would be really great if you went back and studied public health and what the world was like before vaccines.
If the hospital employed you in a non-nursing position that doesn't mean they don't require nurses to have this vaccine. Although it doesn't apply to you, nursing students do go into newborn nurseries where the little ones are at high risk from pertussis. This requirement is also new in most places, based on the most recent findings by the CDC and WHO, so it may have been instituted after you were employed.
I was employed at this same hospital as a registered nurse on the telemetry floor.
If you care to look into it, you will see that the smallpox vaccination was shown not to be responsible for the decline of smallpox, smallpox began to decline before the vaccine was introduced. People want a quick fix for everything, and don't like to think that diseases run a natural course with rises and falls. Some diseases make a comeback, others don't. Just because some stiff in a white lab coat offering a product with a fancy-sounding name and who is backed by big money says it the majority of people are too willing to be lead like a herd of sheep.
I was discussing vaccinations at the county health department during my rotation in community health nursing and I told her I did not take vaccinations and my children were not vaccinated. Even though she was in charge of thousands of dollars worth of vaccinations that were kept in an ultra-expensive climate controlled refridgerator, even though she gives vaccinations, she did not recoil. This is anecdotal but she told me that she thought it was wrong to use so many vaccinations on babies and children before their immune systems even had a chance to develop. She agreed with me that most of the vaccines are of questionable effectiveness. She told me that most of the people who come to the health department are of a lower socioeconomic status and were not enlightened enough to even question that all those vaccines might not be good for them. I'm not tooting my own horn or trying to allude to being so smart. I just know that I don't believe everything I'm told by companies and agencies who have so much money invested in something and I have legitimate concerns about getting vaccinated.
I almost caved in and went to the doctor today, but I'm going to hold out.
GadgetRN71, ASN, RN
1,841 Posts
I had to get this vaccine before starting work at my current facility. We also had an out break of pertussis in my state previous to that, and I was one of the unlucky winners. Not fun..
I'm biased I suppose, because I think vaccinations are a good thing. I have to admit, this hysteria over vaccines annoys me. How many children lost their lives in years past due to diseases that we now vaccinate against? Take a walk through your local cemetery and look-way too many. And I don't buy the argument that vaccines cause autism..they've never proved a link. Could just as easily be something viral, due to past drug use/abuse by the parents, additives to food etc.
At any rate, I think the OP should mention this to her doctor, if she's cocerned about seizures..it may be a very low risk of occurence but can't hurt to check.