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Nurses Association Opposes Mandatory Flu Shots For Health Workers

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  • Nurses Association Opposes Mandatory Flu Shots For Health Workers

    Speaking at a meeting of the New York State Hospital Planning and Review Council, the New York State Nurses Association strongly opposed a regulation that would require every healthcare worker in the state to be immunized for influenza.

    Despite these objections, the council adopted the proposal as an emergency rule that could go into effect before this winter's flu season. The rule affects all healthcare personnel, both paid and unpaid, who interact with patients in hospitals, diagnostic and treatment centers, certified home health agencies, long-term healthcare programs, AIDS home care programs, licensed home care services, and hospices.

    In its testimony, the Nurses Association called the council's action a "scorched earth" approach. "While we encourage nurses to be immunized for the flu, we do not agree that nurses should be required to get immunizations as a condition of employment," said Eileen Avery, RN, associate director of the association's Education, Practice & Research Program.

    "The seasonal flu vaccine is not 100% effective and sometimes is highly ineffective, as it was in 2005 and 2007," Avery said. "There is no guarantee that in any given year, the public will benefit from mandatory immunization of healthcare providers."

    The Nurses Association also is concerned that the state and healthcare facilities might rely upon flu shots to prevent the spread of influenza among workers and patients rather than implementing proven infection control procedures such the use of appropriate respirators and isolation rooms.

    The regulation's impact on the state's shortage of nurses could be significant.

    "There is no exemption for religious or cultural preferences regarding immunization, effectively blocking individuals who have these beliefs from earning their livelihood," Avery said. "It's possible that nurses will leave the profession or choose another career because of this onerous mandate; a serious threat at a time when the shortage of nurses in New York State is expected to reach 20,000 within a decade."

    Source
    New York State Nurses Association

    The salvage of human life ought to be placed above barter and exchange ~ Louis Harris, 1918

  • #2
    Re: Nurses Association Opposes Mandatory Flu Shots For Health Workers

    not to mention those that may have immune or neurological disorders or reactions. Those who may have had Guillain Barre are NOT to have flu shots--(what about allergies to eggs? I guess lots of nurses are going to become allergic to eggs pretty quick)-do these people know that that made this into a 'law'? This is not going to go over very well.

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    • #3
      Re: Nurses Association Opposes Mandatory Flu Shots For Health Workers

      (I will say I usually get a flu shot though but the idea that we MUST VAX EVERYONE is the wrong approach by the higher ups at my hospital).A better approach is to 'vaccinate defensively not offensively.' Say VAX if YOU don't want the flu. VAX Defensively. If they are worried RNs will give it to pts, and the RNs won't get the shot, Then VAX the PTS - if the PTS don't want the shot IT IS THEIR CHOICE-AS IT should be ours.
      That said, my mom is in her 70s and getting over probable flu in june and bronchitis in August-Sept. She is not high on the list for a swine flu vax, being older. I would NOT want an unvaxd nurse caring for her at all. They should allow patients to place on their doors, if not VAXD DO NOT ENTER> That should be their right. There are ways around unvaxd workers-not perfect but better than forcing us to take a vaccine whose makers were given freedom from lawsuit if the vaccine proves unsafe. That has turned off many coworkers.

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      • #4
        Re: Nurses Association Opposes Mandatory Flu Shots For Health Workers

        I really think they could have gone about this differently. Perhaps requiring those who are not vaccinated to wear a mask 100% of the time while working for example. On the other hand, I hardly understand health care workers refusing a flu vax as often as is the case. They certainly do not all have religious reasons or health issues in the numbers that are refusing to vax. Working in health care puts you at a greater risk of serious illness without proper vaccinations, and even vaccinated, great care needs to be taken for the sake of health care workers and patients alike. I personally choose to get the seasonal flu shot every year. This year I got the pneumovax, and will get the new H1N1 vax too. I do this to protect myself, my patients, and my family. I reacted heavily to the pneumovax, but better three days of fever than a full blown pneumonia.

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        • #5
          Re: Nurses Association Opposes Mandatory Flu Shots For Health Workers

          In New York, it is the vaccine or termination.

          In other states, some hospitals are giving the choice of vaccine or mask while at work.

          It's going to be a very long pandemic for some nurses...

          And, actually, if we are vaccinated, do we still need to wear the N95 if the case is
          confirmed as swine flu positive, I wonder.

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          • #6
            Re: Nurses Association Opposes Mandatory Flu Shots For Health Workers

            Millions of persons in the U.S. have become sick and recovered from the illness version of the strain of novel H1N1 that is in the vaccine shot. This would include many, many health care workers.

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            • #7
              Re: Nurses Association Opposes Mandatory Flu Shots For Health Workers

              Originally posted by silvergirl;299475.........., Then VAX the PTS - if the PTS don't want the shot[B
              IT IS THEIR CHOICE[/B]-AS IT should be ours.

              That said, my mom is in her 70s and getting over probable flu in june and bronchitis in August-Sept. She is not high on the list for a swine flu vax, being older. I would NOT want an unvaxd nurse caring for her at all. They should allow patients to place on their doors, if not VAXD DO NOT ENTER> That should be their right. There are ways around unvaxd workers-not perfect but better than forcing us to take a vaccine whose makers were given freedom from lawsuit if the vaccine proves unsafe. That has turned off many coworkers.
              Patients may not have a choice:

              What about emergency surgery?

              Newly diagnosed cancer patients are often rushed into chemo, without an opportunity to get a vaccination and wait long enough for it to build sufficient antibodies.

              Others may not know they have a compromised immune system and their vaccination didn't work as planned.

              It's been well documented that many elderly get a very low serum antibody level from a vaccine - leaving them vulnerable.

              When any of the above people enter a hospital, shouldn't they be assured they won't acquire a preventable disease from a HCW? If HCW don't want to be vaccinated, then they need to do something to guarantee they won't infect patients.

              .....better than forcing us to take a vaccine whose makers were given freedom from lawsuit if the vaccine proves unsafe
              What about forcing patients to be cared for by in-hospital policies (like allowing unvaccinated HCW) if they prove unsafe? Are the hospitals given freedom from lawsuits in that case?

              .
              "The next major advancement in the health of American people will be determined by what the individual is willing to do for himself"-- John Knowles, Former President of the Rockefeller Foundation

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              • #8
                Re: Nurses Association Opposes Mandatory Flu Shots For Health Workers

                Originally posted by Florida1 View Post
                Millions of persons in the U.S. have become sick and recovered from the illness version of the strain of novel H1N1 that is in the vaccine shot. This would include many, many health care workers.
                With swine flu most have no proof of that immunity unless of course, they have their test results, but few have been tested.


                Take measles for example, nurses have to either provide proof of vaccination or a titre proving immunity. In Maine, if you were born before 1956, I think it was, you did not need to do anything. They considered you immune.

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                • #9
                  Re: Nurses Association Opposes Mandatory Flu Shots For Health Workers

                  So potentially thousands of people might be "encouraged" to take the novel H1N1 vaccine even if they have natural immunity?

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Nurses Association Opposes Mandatory Flu Shots For Health Workers

                    Originally posted by Florida1 View Post
                    So potentially thousands of people might be "encouraged" to take the novel H1N1 vaccine even if they have natural immunity?
                    With new reports coming in of people who have been ill with the new H1N1 more than once, I wonder about the quality of that natural immunity out there.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Nurses Association Opposes Mandatory Flu Shots For Health Workers

                      Originally posted by Florida1 View Post
                      So potentially thousands of people might be "encouraged" to take the novel H1N1 vaccine even if they have natural immunity?
                      In New York state, mandated to do so. The other places, mask or or vax if that is what your employer says. Seems like there should be some exemption if you can prove a confirmed case though. Seems silly to waste vaccine if already immunized.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Nurses Association Opposes Mandatory Flu Shots For Health Workers

                        California Nurses Association/NNOC Issues Policy On H1N1 Flu Vaccination: Encourage, Don't Mandate

                        As the national H1N1 pandemic arrives, with the vaccine following shortly, the nation's largest professional association and union of registered nurses has issued new nursing practice guidelines to structure its use. The California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC) will present this policy as bargaining demands to hospital management, and as guidance to regulators and legislators.

                        Deborah Burger, RN, co-president of CNA/NNOC remarked that,

                        "The H1N1 virus presents a profound and unprecedented challenge to our nation's fraying healthcare system. The H1N1 flu vaccine should be offered as one part of a comprehensive program to deal with this pandemic. That care plan must also contain immediate improvements to hospital infection control procedures, including the guarantee of an adequate supply of the appropriate N95 respirator masks as well as thoughtful isolation procedures, in addition to an immediate improvement to the public health safety net patients rely upon, and a moratorium of closures of hospitals and emergency rooms."

                        "At the heart of this policy is the belief that every RN should be vaccinated against the H1N1 influenza virus, but nurses should maintain their right to decline for personal reasons; in addition, every RN who contracts H1N1 must be cared for properly by her facility and local government, including with the guarantee of appropriate sick leave and presumptive eligibility for workers' compensation." The policy reads:

                        1. As frontline caregivers at the heart of the healthcare system, CNA/NNOC strongly recommends that all registered nurses (RNs) are vaccinated against the H1N1 influenza virus.

                        2. Any vaccination program for RNs should include extensive education on the risks and benefits of vaccination, with an emphasis on patient protection and the need to be prepared for a serious pandemic outbreak.

                        3. CNA/NNOC supports an RN's right to decline vaccination.

                        4. RNs should be granted presumptive eligibility for workers' compensation benefits as a result of contracting the H1N1 influenza virus, and should not be subject to disciplinary action by an employer due to absenteeism or illness resulting from the vaccine.
                        Source
                        California Nurses Association

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