Vaccines and nursing school

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Did everyone get all the vaccines required? How did you handle not having your records from childhood? Which vaccines did you have to get as an adult? I know hep B is something I don't think I've had. Did anyone opt out of the vaccines and did they question why you don't have your vaccines?

Specializes in Mostly geri :).

Well.......I had to get 8 shots and need one more in March. My high school went to computerized records a year after I graduated, talk about bad timing, so any info before then was earased. The hospital I got pediatric shots at was torn down and my pediatrician is in heaven. So, long story short, the cheapest way to handle all this was to become a human pin cushion.

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Specializes in Operating Room.

My mom keeps my vaccine records so that wasn't a problem. Our school required us to get a bunch of titers on top of that. Apparently I got my Hep B rounds completed when I was little too. So besides the blood draws for the titers and the TB test, I did not have to do anything else.

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The MMR titers are available, but expensive because it's a separate titer for measles, mumps and rubella. I had my full series of Help B 8 or so years ago, but didn't have records (there was a tornado in my Doc's town, and lots of records were lost....my luck ). Anyway, I had a Hep B titer and didn't have immunity...and an additional booster, had another titer a few weeks after....and presto...immunity :-D

I wouldn't overly worry about repeating a vaccine from childhood. All the vaccine does is provoke an immune response to create antibodies. If you have antibodies to that disease, likely your antibodies will squash the antigen in the vaccine without you feeling a thing.

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My children are too young to go to school, but we plan on homeschooling them anyway, and they are not vaccinated. We are in NJ,, which sadly right now is an all or nothing state. So, we are nothing. I actually had to consult with a lawyer, because I wanted to make sure my getting the Hep B series would not affect them, if they DID end up going to school for some reason. I worked at the local hospital, and opted out of Hep B and flu and pneumonia shots for 3 years. I asked about exemption and was told because the school is selective admissions for the nursing program, they had every right to not accept me if I did not get it. I could get away with not getting it at a state school, or the like. Hopefully our new Gov. will take the pharmaceuticals out of the states back pocket and allow for informed consent.

Anyway, at my school you are required to have blood work, which they look for the M, M , and R anyway.

Best of luck!

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Specializes in One day CCU maybe!.

I opted out of Hep B initially because I was breastfeeding but had to have a doctor's note to decline. I couldn't just sign a waiver.

When they did my MMR titer (since my records were so old) they said I did not show immunity to Mumps any longer and I should schedule a vaccine. I did not schedule a vaccine because like with the Heb B I was breastfeeding and I prefer to not get vaccines while I'm pregnant/breastfeeding unless absolutely necessary. But no one mentioned the Mumps while I was in nursing school so I never got the MMR.

We were strongly urged to get the flu shot as well as the H1N1 vaccine. I did not get either one. I did, however, take care of H1N1 clients, flu, and Hep B patients all while unvaccinated (and sometimes unmasked prior to diagnoses). So consider that when/if you decide to decline a vaccine. You will take care of patients with these diseases.

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My childhood records were long gone, so my PCP just pulled titers on everything that I needed from childhood. I had records of Hep B on file though. I have always gotten a flu shot and I did get the H1N1 this year, but I have friends & family that never get the flu shot. It's really a personal preference. I don't know what all the laws/rules are concerning school/employment and vaccination since I've never really had any issue since I get the vaccination every year.

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imo vaccines are more dangerous then the risk of actually getting a disease. every state offers some sort of exemption and the school and clinical site should honor them....if not, they're breaking the law. with my kids, i research the disease to see what the threat is, the severity of the disease and whatnot and then i look into the vaccine. a lot of the vaccines have chemicals that i don't want in my kids bodies. anyway, i think this way is the best way to decide whether or not to vaccinate yourself. here's a link on the different exemptions if you're looking into refusing. state vaccine requirements - national vaccine information center good luck with your decision. :)

have you take micro yet?

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did everyone get all the vaccines required? how did you handle not having your records from childhood? which vaccines did you have to get as an adult? i know hep b is something i don't think i've had. did anyone opt out of the vaccines and did they question why you don't have your vaccines?

cute2, i will be starting ns next wk. each ns will tell you what you will have to do and when it will need to be turned in. you will find this information out when you attend your orientation class. however, if you do not have your shot record no need to sweat. your doctors office will draw a tithers. the tithers will tell them what shots you need. if you do not need a shot/immunization then they will have to write down your number that you got for that particular immunization. our school gave us a form that the doctor had to write on and our lab results had to be attached. i choose to do the hep b shot. it is given in 2 doses and it is given some weeks apart. our shots record had to be turned in before i received the 2nd shot. my school had me sign the refusal part until i finished my 2nd shot. if we did not turn in our shot record by the due date with a drug screen and other important information we were dropped from the program. so, do not worry :D you will be okay. even if you have your shot record your school will 9 out of 10 require that information to be put on their form. i hope this is helpful.

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Specializes in LTC.

I couldn't get ahold of my high school for copies of my vaccinations, but contacted my local health department and they had everything I needed! I also got titers for some of my vaccinations, and started my hep B shots. I'll get my last one next month! :)

One thing to keep in mind though, make sure you get 2 tb tests if you haven't had one in over a year. I didn't realize with the wording on my forms that I needed another test, and I almost missed the 3 week in-between time; meaning I would've had to start all over again. My doc office didn't catch this either.

Oh yeah, and it was mandatory for us to have the H1N1 vaccination in order to go to clinicals. And, I'm sure even though that sounds illegal, we didn't HAVE to go to clinicals, so they could've gotten away with it. I figure what's more important to me, getting upset over small stuff or becoming a nurse?

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