To get the flu shot, or not to get the flu shot...

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I am a fourth semester registered nursing student in Idaho. Throughout my nursing education, I have never received a flu shot of any kind. The reason is because I feel that I am a healthy 22 year old, and that there are other people who need it more than I do. How do other people view this issue? Is it something that I should consider once I graduate and become a full-time working RN?

i am a healthy 50 year old with diabetes and asthma and i have never gotten a flu shot, nor do i intend to. and i have not been carried into the er with flu. i did get a pneumonia shot - although even then i got pneumonia over the 4th of july this past summer anyway, months and months after the pneumonia shot.

i do not have any faith in the flu shot, and i do not care how much you rebut my thinking, i have seen more people die from the flu shot than i have the flu. that is my personal experience, maybe i just have had a strange and different experience from the majority of you, but that's how i've seen it.

i did not let my 85 year old grandmother with copd ever get it either. and no, she did not die of the flu.

uh, yes, radically different from pretty much just about everyone. on average, 35,000 people die every year from the flu. how many people per year die from taking a flu shot?:rolleyes:

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You can carry the influenza virus for weeks, with no symptoms. You can also pass it along to all your immunocompromised clients.

YOUR body might be healthy, and able to fight it off, but others are not.

In my school, you can refuse the shot, you do have that right, but you have to sign a waiver. If there is a flu outbreak at the facility where your clinical is, then you are not allowed to attend clinical until the outbreak is over.

Thats a lot of clinical days to miss.

Personally, I get the shot every year.

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Specializes in LTC, Acute care.

I didn't get the flu shot and have never got the flu shot but I signed the waiver at work saying I didn't want it. I really don't have any real reason for not taking it all these years other than I have never got the flu shot in my life and I'm scared it might upset some sort of balance in my body system. I've been fine so far but I had this horrible head cold, muscle and joint pain but no fever for the past two weeks. IDK if it was the flu or just the fluctuating weather playing tricks on my body.

Anyway OP, I believe it's a personal decision so don't let others guilt or scare you into taking it.

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I didn't get the flu shot and have never got the flu shot but I signed the waiver at work saying I didn't want it. I really don't have any real reason for not taking it all these years other than I have never got the flu shot in my life and I'm scared it might upset some sort of balance in my body system. I've been fine so far but I had this horrible head cold, muscle and joint pain but no fever for the past two weeks. IDK if it was the flu or just the fluctuating weather playing tricks on my body.

Anyway OP, I believe it's a personal decision so don't let others guilt or scare you into taking it.

Influenza is usually accompanied by a high fever, but occasionally this symptom is absent.

The worst I have ever felt was one year when I did not get a flu shot and ended up getting the flu. I had a temp of 104 and the worst sore throat and excruciating bone/body pain I have ever experienced. I drove myself to the ER in the middle of the night. I felt like I was going to die and, at that point, I almost would have welcomed it. I know it's possible to have a mild case of the flu, but that was not my experience. I never want to go through that again.

On the good side, when I called the Nursing supervisor from the ER to call in sick for my morning shift, at least he believed me-he was standing outside my ER room when he received my call.:D

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Specializes in drug seekers and the incurably insane..

I have only taken the flu shot twice in my life and both times I became very sick from it. The first time I thought it was a mere coincidence, but it happened again the second time.....I have since refused it. I practice meticulous hygiene at home and at work, and I don't leave my house a whole lot anyway. I had the flu once 12 yrs. ago when I was in high school. Taking a flu shot is a personal choice.

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I am a healthy 50 year old with diabetes and asthma and I have never gotten a flu shot, nor do I intend to. And I have not been carried into the ER with flu. I did get a pneumonia shot - although even then I got pneumonia over the 4th of July this past summer anyway, months and months after the pneumonia shot.

I do not have any faith in the flu shot, and I do not care how much you rebut my thinking, I have seen more people die from the flu shot than I have the flu. That is my personal experience, maybe I just have had a strange and different experience from the majority of you, but that's how I've seen it.

I did not let my 85 year old grandmother with COPD ever get it either. And no, she did not die of the flu.

Personally, I haven't seen any infants die from necrotizing enterocolitis. Oh wait, I don't work in the NICU, maybe that's why?

Its quite disappointing when nurses base their practice on personal experience instead of science and statistics, especially when they state are closed to any view or evidence that may ask them to rethink their stance. But unfortunately going off of personal experience instead of facts is a common psychological phenomenon. My mother refuses to travel on a plane because she has seen numerous plane crashes on the news and therefore, in her experience, knows of more people dying via plane than car. However statistics show that you are much more likely to die in a car than an airplane. I can only say that I hope that your life will never be shattered by losing a loved one to a potentially preventable illness.

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personally, i haven't seen any infants die from necrotizing enterocolitis. oh wait, i don't work in the nicu, maybe that's why?

its quite disappointing when nurses base their practice on personal experience instead of science and statistics, especially when they state are closed to any view or evidence that may ask them to rethink their stance. but unfortunately going off of personal experience instead of facts is a common psychological phenomenon. my mother refuses to travel on a plane because she has seen numerous plane crashes on the news and therefore, in her experience, knows of more people dying via plane than car. however statistics show that you are much more likely to die in a car than an airplane. i can only say that i hope that your life will never be shattered by losing a loved one to a potentially preventable illness.

i am personally amazed at the number of nurses, presumably educated in nursing school on the subjects of epidemiology, virology, and pathology, who continue to verbalize nonsense about flu shots "giving people the flu." if you do only a cursory study of virology and epidemiology, you know that the flu shot uses a dead virus. dead viruses cannot replicate, therefore cannot cause infection. flu shots can cause mild, short-lived flu like symptoms. people can get the flu after receiving a flu shot because they have already been exposed or are exposed before their bodies have had the chance to create antibodies; people can get flu from influenza viruses which were not covered by the vaccine, and people can get other viral illnesses which mimic the symptoms of flu. but you cannot get the flu from being injected with a dead virus. you'd think we of all people would know better than to perpetuate myths and outright false and misleading misinformation, but all you have to do is read a couple of threads in the flu forum on this web site to see that the education regarding this subject is apparently sadly lacking in nursing school.:rolleyes:

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Specializes in Med Surg.

According to the CDC, the vaccine is 70 to 90% effective at preventing the flu in healthy adults under age 65. This depends on how well their crystal ball was working when they made their guess as to which strains are going to be prevalent in the upcoming season.

For some reason I always seem to fall into the minority range. I got sick right after Christmas and am just now starting to feel human again after nearly three weeks off work. And yes, I got the shot the first week of October and I did test positive for one of the strains the vaccine covered this year. And no, this is not the first time this has happened.

So why do I get the shot knowing I'll probably get the flu anyway? I'm contrary. When I have to take off work and they try to blame me for not getting vaccinated I can give them a great big country boy $$it eating grin and say "check the records and then get back to me."

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According to the CDC, the vaccine is 70 to 90% effective at preventing the flu in healthy adults under age 65. This depends on how well their crystal ball was working when they made their guess as to which strains are going to be prevalent in the upcoming season.

For some reason I always seem to fall into the minority range. I got sick right after Christmas and am just now starting to feel human again after nearly three weeks off work. And yes, I got the shot the first week of October and I did test positive for one of the strains the vaccine covered this year. And no, this is not the first time this has happened.

So why do I get the shot knowing I'll probably get the flu anyway? I'm contrary. When I have to take off work and they try to blame me for not getting vaccinated I can give them a great big country boy $$it eating grin and say "check the records and then get back to me."

Yes, you can get the flu in spite of getting the vaccine (rather than as a result of getting the vaccine). Usually if one does indeed contract one of the targeted influenza viruses in spite of getting the vaccine, then the illness is milder than it would have been had the vaccine not been given.

For whatever reason, your body is apparently not producing the antibodies in sufficient numbers needed to successfully combat the virus in spite of being given the vaccine.

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Specializes in pulm/cardiology pcu, surgical onc.

I personally have not been sick for at least 6 years with anything like the flu, cold, or any other URI issue. I have an awesome immune system. My patients and famiy do not. I don't know what my healthy sysyem is passing to my friends, family and patients. I get the shot each year and have never had an issue such as sore arm or feeling crummy afterwards. My mother did have guillian-barre and spent 2 weeks in ICU and presumably from a flu shot but that was like 20 years ago and I feel the shot is much safer than it was. Educate yourself and base your decision on what's right for you.

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yes, i would advise you to get it. 6 students in my current class have missed quite a few days because their distrust in vaccinations caused them to decline. meanwhile, i had a slight cold for 3 days last semesters, but nothing serious enough to miss school.

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"Flu shots can cause mild, short-lived flu like symptoms"

After I received my TDAP I had mild flu like symptoms, but some Tylenol and Twizzlers saved the day. It's not uncommon to feel icky after a vaccine, but it is better than coming down with the FLU.

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