Forced flu shot at work

VogtAndrea

The hospital, community health, mental health, social services and ambulance services here are now mandatory too. For those who are allergic, there's a couple of alternatives but most of us will just bite the bullet and take the shot. I react about one year in 3.
It sucks that we're faced with being forced to do it. Even though I would have had the shot this year anyway for my own health reasons, I still hate being told that I have to do it.

alliwithaneye

Nope. I very much do not believe in them and would absolutely refuse, I would not use religious reasons, when they fired me, I'd sue their god damn *kitten* off their freaking faces. (obviously, I feel very strongly about ths).

This pretty much sums it up for me too :bigsmile:

trud72

and surely if YOU care anything for the patents you would get it done right??? :noway:

Prahasaurus

All of a sudden, it would be against my religion to get a flu shot.

This.

Say you're a Jehovah's Witness. If they push back, ask for their home address so you can visit them regularly in the evenings, around dinnertime, to proselytize.

--P

unsuspectingfish

and surely if YOU care anything for the patents you would get it done right??? :noway:

There are these things called surgical masks and gloves that do a pretty good job of protecting the people wearing them, as well as the people around them. In fact, most hospitals I know of force people to wear those if they refuse the flu shot. I can see the benefit of getting a flu shot if you do work in a healthcare setting, but threatening to fire people if they don't is crossing a line. I work in a pharmacy, and it's not mandatory, but they definitely try to pressure you into getting them. I haven't gotten the shot in the four years I've worked there, and I also haven't gotten the flu in the four years I've worked there.

sleepytexan

I would absolutely refuse. Contains thimerosol.

slkehl

If you work around the elderly, infants or immune compromised people get the shot, if you don't want to, quit or get fired. People go to the hospital to get better, not get sicker because someone working there refuses to not spread a potentially lethal virus. Worked in healthcare long? Doesn't seem like it if your unwilling to do everything you can to keep yourself and your patients well.

Agreed. I don't understand why anyone wouldn't want the shot, other than some "I don't want to because they're forcing me" business. And I would hope anyone in the healthcare industry would know thimerosol is nothing to worry about. Makes your chances of getting sick and inadvertently killing an elderly person much lower.

unsuspectingfish

If you work around the elderly, infants or immune compromised people get the shot, if you don't want to, quit or get fired. People go to the hospital to get better, not get sicker because someone working there refuses to not spread a potentially lethal virus. Worked in healthcare long? Doesn't seem like it if your unwilling to do everything you can to keep yourself and your patients well.

Agreed. I don't understand why anyone wouldn't want the shot, other than some "I don't want to because they're forcing me" business. And I would hope anyone in the healthcare industry would know thimerosol is nothing to worry about. Makes your chances of getting sick and inadvertently killing an elderly person much lower.

I don't want the shot because I've had adverse reactions to vaccines in the past, so I don't see the point of getting one when there are plenty of other ways to avoid getting sick and getting other people sick.

PunkyG210

The hospital I work at is now doing the same...get the flu shot OR wear a mask at all times. Guess I'll be wearing a mask. For all that make the comment "if you really care for your patients"...blah, blah, blah, I'm more likely to get all kinds of disgusting organisms FROM the patients that cough and spew in the faces of the people taking care of them. And for the comments like "work in health care long?", as a matter of fact, yes, almost 30 years. I've also worked on a Respiratory care unit for at least the last 10 years and have NEVER gotten the flu shot OR the flu in all those years. An employer should NOT be able to force employees to have any kind of medical treatment, preventative or otherwise. What's next, if you get pregnant you get fired. It's a personal choice and an employer shouldn't be able to make that decision for you. Apparently they realize that they legally can't force you to have the flu shot, so they try to coerce you into getting it by saying that you have to wear a mask at all times if you don't get it. They figure that wearing a mask all the time will be such a pain in the *kitten* that people will just give in. I wonder how long it will be before they decide that they are spending too much money on masks? I already have to wear a mask for most of my shift just to prevent myself from getting sick from my patients, so it's no big deal to wear one the whole time.

HogSandwich

I will always come down on the side of the medical profession. But I have regular IV transfusions of a crazy drug cocktail for my arthritis that switch me from cripple to very mobile, so I have a lot of faith and respect.

transvenouspacer

The hospital I work at is now doing the same...get the flu shot OR wear a mask at all times. Guess I'll be wearing a mask. For all that make the comment "if you really care for your patients"...blah, blah, blah, I'm more likely to get all kinds of disgusting organisms FROM the patients that cough and spew in the faces of the people taking care of them. And for the comments like "work in health care long?", as a matter of fact, yes, almost 30 years. I've also worked on a Respiratory care unit for at least the last 10 years and have NEVER gotten the flu shot OR the flu in all those years. An employer should NOT be able to force employees to have any kind of medical treatment, preventative or otherwise. What's next, if you get pregnant you get fired. It's a personal choice and an employer shouldn't be able to make that decision for you. Apparently they realize that they legally can't force you to have the flu shot, so they try to coerce you into getting it by saying that you have to wear a mask at all times if you don't get it. They figure that wearing a mask all the time will be such a pain in the *kitten* that people will just give in. I wonder how long it will be before they decide that they are spending too much money on masks? I already have to wear a mask for most of my shift just to prevent myself from getting sick from my patients, so it's no big deal to wear one the whole time.

AMEN!

My hospital has the same policy. I have refused the flu shot every year and instead choose to wear the mask. I've never gotten the flu, and as someone else said, the single best way to protect your patient is to wash your hands.

Does anyone actually think that hospital corporations actually care about the patient? There's only one thing they care about and that is MONEY. Guess what hospitals get if they force enough employees to take the flu shot? I'll give you one guess....

Impy84

I'd develop a religious conviction. Simple

Spokez70

I get one every year and so do my kids- never made any of us sick. If my work was giving them out for free I'd be happy.

michelletr

I have no opinion either way but I will say this.....If I was a patient in a hospital and the nurse walks in with a mask on I would honesty be so freaked out. I would be wondering why the heck a nurse is wearing a mask AND if she/he is sick.

chanson104

It bothers me that drugs are the answer to everything. Why don't they enforce healthy eating and exercise. They would rather put donuts and pizza in the breakroom for everyone and then mandate a shot. It makes no sense to me!!

OnionMomma

AMEN!

My hospital has the same policy. I have refused the flu shot every year and instead choose to wear the mask. I've never gotten the flu, and as someone else said, the single best way to protect your patient is to wash your hands.

Does anyone actually think that hospital corporations actually care about the patient? There's only one thing they care about and that is MONEY. Guess what hospitals get if they force enough employees to take the flu shot? I'll give you one guess....

YES this right here!!!!!! Hospitals and Ins Co. all the care about is the bottom line.

My son got it when he was little both the flu, the H1N1, and the RSV vacc.He was medically complex when he was little, we had a very rought 2.5 years with him.

But last winter he did not. Last winter was the first winter he did not get very ill. The first winter he was born, I got the shot being one of his primary care givers. I got the flu something horrendous!! Puking for a week and nothing staying down, chills, fever...it was awful.

IDK, I know that DRs will tell you that the flu shot will NOT give you flu, but we've seen the opposite in our house.

sarafil

I work in a clinic and we are required as well. I gladly take the vaccination because I work with women battling breast cancer. The last thing I want to do is expose them to an illness that could take their life as they are undergoing chemotherapy. It is a small thing to do for the health of so many other people who are battling life threatening illnesses. I hope those who do not take the immunization wear masks.

med2017

against flu shots.

onedayillbeamilf

I thought this was standard practice? If you work in a hospital or nursing home, you have to have your shots. If it were in any other workplace, then I'd be against it. Honestly, I never get the flu and never get the shot, half the people who get the shot get the flu at work! lol

doubtful, they probably get a cold or a virus, not the flu. I used to think this way when I was your age, after a couple of kids and getting my butt kicked twice by the flu, I am a solid believer in the shot or spray.

Plus people, it is a mist spray in the nose now, $25 and 2 seconds your done.

Not true. The year before last I got the flu shot in November. In early February I got the flu. I didn't have the doctor send it off to see ifit was H1N1 because I really didn't care. I just wanted to feel better. I ended up being out of work for 2 weeks.

tcalamity

we have similar in the UK and although I have never had the flu I think ts more to do with protecting patients and service users from you which makes sense. I was never happy about having it but they have now mixed the standard flu jab with the swine flu jab here in uk.I worked in maternity so I got the flu jab as we know here that swan flu can dangerous to pregnant women and their unborn child. So for me, it was my responsibility to protect the people I was there to care for. This being said nobody can force you to do something you dont want to - basic human right.

vim_n_vigor

There are certain professions that I expect this is the case. It wouldn't surprise me if plenty of schools and retirement homes didn't expect the same thing. If you work in a hospital, you should expect this.

laddyboy

1st you need to ask yourself if you are going to get a flu shot anyway. Why would you not? If you're going to get it anyway then you're just looking for a reason to be defiant. If you don't usually get the flu shot why not? Is it religion? Don't look for a reason to be, well you get it.

Impy84

I work in a clinic and we are required as well. I gladly take the vaccination because I work with women battling breast cancer. The last thing I want to do is expose them to an illness that could take their life as they are undergoing chemotherapy. It is a small thing to do for the health of so many other people who are battling life threatening illnesses. I hope those who do not take the immunization wear masks.

As my mom is one of those women I would like to say THANK YOU for being so considerate. I'm sure those women thank you as well as their daughters.

MellowGa

I thought this was standard practice? If you work in a hospital or nursing home, you have to have your shots. If it were in any other workplace, then I'd be against it. Honestly, I never get the flu and never get the shot, half the people who get the shot get the flu at work! lol

doubtful, they probably get a cold or a virus, not the flu. I used to think this way when I was your age, after a couple of kids and getting my butt kicked twice by the flu, I am a solid believer in the shot or spray.

Plus people, it is a mist spray in the nose now, $25 and 2 seconds your done.

Not true. The year before last I got the flu shot in November. In early February I got the flu. I didn't have the doctor send it off to see ifit was H1N1 because I really didn't care. I just wanted to feel better. I ended up being out of work for 2 weeks.

Well you probably had th H1N1 then, because it was a diferent strain and not formulated yet for the current flu shot, so you were able to get that strain.

Also the flu shot is the Virus itself, but it's "dead" so when introduced to your body the whiteblood cells attack it, make anti-bodies for it, which in turn makes you getting that strain unlikely for that year.

Can you get a new strain? yes no vacine is a 100% and you do not get sick when taking the flu shot, since it is "dead" you more then likely caught another cold or sinus infection since your bodies imune system was compromised.

dad106

The school district I sub for offers flu shots for free... and I'm not sure if they are required but everyone signs up for them anyway.

When I was in college my parents made me get a flu shot because they are older and don't need/want to get sick... but now that I'm home, I don't get one.

I rarely get sick as it is, and my arm always hurts for days after.

dittiepe

Absolutely. Being a nurse myself, I was glad we were offered the shots at work. You come into constant contact with a lot of stuff. Even if you don't GET the flu, you can still CARRY the flu. And that risk is even greater for hospital workers. And hey, it's free!

dittiepe

Well you probably had th H1N1 then, because it was a diferent strain and not formulated yet for the current flu shot, so you were able to get that strain.

Also the flu shot is the Virus itself, but it's "dead" so when introduced to your body the whiteblood cells attack it, make anti-bodies for it, which in turn makes you getting that strain unlikely for that year.

Can you get a new strain? yes no vacine is a 100% and you do not get sick when taking the flu shot, since it is "dead" you more then likely caught another cold or sinus infection since your bodies imune system was compromised.

To go further on this: When they make the vaccine, they guess, based on some factors (previous year, etc), which 3 strains they believe will be most prominent and that's the ones they use for the vaccine. Sometimes this is dead on, sometimes it's a huge miss (happened twice in the past decade), and usually it's got at least 1 right.

roachhaley

I'd feel ****ing pissed. As soon as I was old enough to make the choice, I stopped getting flu shots and the similar. Absolute rubbish.

Jemmuno

I would be fine with it. It's the same as jobs requesting Hep B vaccinations. This is for your safety and the safety of the patrons.

Colbyandsage

All of a sudden, it would be against my religion to get a flu shot.

This!