To Flu Shot or Not??

[nurseinprogress2010]

I will be starting Nursing School in Jan 09 (yay!)

I went to get my immunizations in order.

When I asked about the flu shots, the nurses in the office said not to get it, it made them all sick.

What do you think? Should we get flu shots or not?

[TheSquire, DNP, APRN, NP]

To follow up on what AtomicWoman said - we're affected by all the weird stuff now because the vaccine series, antibiotics, semi-decent nutrition, and regular medical care have taken care of a good chunk of what used to kill people 50-70+ years ago. Also, a lot of the diagnoses we can make now are based on criteria that people centuries ago did not even know about or, if they did, they did not understand the underlying cause-effect relationships. To say that x number of years ago we didn't have y disease is a faulty argument at the very best.

[lamazeteacher]

I'm starting to understand better the character of some of the questions and responses on the threads here. This one said it came from "student nurses.........."

It would be good if contributors had their R.N., CNA, L.V.N., N.P., and certifications etc., with their monikers. I've become quite upset when I see something posted that seems below the level of an R.N.'s "critical" thinking and I've responded critically. It's good to be responding together though and not segregated into those of the same discipline. We have a lot to share from all levels of preparation, and could be more understanding if we knew what level of education the poster had.

[TheSquire, DNP, APRN, NP]

Before the boards got wanged by the "upgrade", people could supply their credentials, certifications, etc. I'm not liking the new boards...

[Alexandra B]

Re: To Flu Shot or Not??

Originally Posted by nurseinprogress2010

I will be starting Nursing School in Jan 09 (yay!)

I went to get my immunizations in order.

When I asked about the flu shots, the nurses in the office said not to get it, it made them all sick.

What do you think? Should we get flu shots or not?

hiya,

I have had the flu shot this year. It just gave me a heavy arm for a day or two. However, I have got the flu at this moment. The flu shot does not protect you from all the strains of flu, it only protects you from the strain that you were injected with. At first, I was thinking, what was the point of having a flu shot because I have still caught it, but maybe if I hadn't had the shot, my flu symptoms might have actually been worse, since I am an asthmatic. My advice would be , if you have any chronic illnesses affecting the heart,lungs, kidneys you definitely should have a shot otherwise the decision is yours. But if you do catch the flu, it may reduce your symptoms. I hope that helped.

[Alexandra B]

I will be starting Nursing School in Jan 09 (yay!)

I went to get my immunizations in order.

When I asked about the flu shots, the nurses in the office said not to get it, it made them all sick.

What do you think? Should we get flu shots or not?

hiya,

I have had the flu shot this year. It just gave me a heavy arm for a day or two. However, I have got the flu at this moment. The flu shot does not protect you from all the strains of flu, it only protects you from the strain that you were injected with. At first, I was thinking, what was the point of having a flu shot because I have still caught it, but maybe if I hadn't had the shot, my flu symptoms might have actually been worse, since I am an asthmatic. My advice would be , if you have any chronic illnesses affecting the heart,lungs, kidneys you definitely should have a shot otherwise the decision is yours. But if you do catch the flu, it may reduce your symptoms. I hope that helped.

[shiny217]

um....I don't think that's true. I cannot believe the nurse said that. Flu vaccine will not make the person sick after getting it, unless the person is allergic to egg.

[CarrieH]

Get the flu shot. The one time I didn't get it because I "didn't get a chance" I got the flu. Trust me, the side effects of the vaccine are nothing in comparison to the real thing.

I remember a few years ago hearing about a nurse who was sued for not getting a flu shot. She got the flu and transmitted it to her patients. i think it was in Mass.

[CarrieH]

Just an FYI to all the posters concerned about trace levels of Thimerosal in vaccines...

You are exposed to more thimerosal from your cosmetics and several other household products that require a preservative. In addition, this is not the same mercury that causes "mercury poisoning". Why does autism have to come up in EVERY vaccine discussion?

[TheSquire, DNP, APRN, NP]

Why does autism have to come up in EVERY vaccine discussion?

Because the anti-vaccination crowd is vocal and because great-great-grandma isn't around anymore to tell her descendants about the three children she lost to various diseases now prevented by vaccines. People hear too much "vaccines are evil" and not enough "vaccines save lives" and "the mercury militia is full of crap".

[C. Thinking]

I used to be against getting the flu shot 1) because it contains only 3 strains max of the flu virus and 2) the side effects.

....BUT...

Since I have began my nursing career, I feel that is my obligation to protect my patients first and foremost by electing to receive the vaccine. So, I do not do it for my own health perticularly, I do it for my patient's.

The flu can be life threatening to children and the elderly and I would not want a suseptible person contracting the flu (a strain contained in the vaccine) because I didn't take precautions.