Voices in Healthcare

Flu Vaccination for Hospital Workers Should Be Mandatory

Posted At : September 14, 2011 6:35 PM | Posted By : Lynn Nicholas

The Massachusetts Hospital Association strongly supports mandatory flu vaccination for all hospital employees and applauds Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Children's Hospital Boston for their bold decision to require flu vaccination as a condition of employment.

Today's release of vaccination rates at Massachusetts hospitals shows continued improvement, with 70.8 percent of acute care hospital workers statewide receiving the flu vaccine last year, compared to 68 percent the year before. But 20 percent of those hospitals' employees refused to be vaccinated, which is completely unacceptable and a huge disservice to patients. There are rare instances where an exception needs to be made, but outside of those limited circumstances, the goal should be 100 percent.

Currently Massachusetts hospitals are required as part of their licensure to ensure that every employee is offered influenza vaccination unless such employee declines to be vaccinated. Hospital employees who decline vaccination are required to sign a form that includes providing the reason the individual refuses to be vaccinated against influenza.

Hospital employees are the front-line stewards of public health and we are proud of their service. For the relatively few employees without extenuating circumstances who may still hesitate to participate in the vaccination program, we believe that their commitment to patient care should carry the day. Patient safety shouldn’t be optional and that means that vaccination compliance shouldn’t be optional either.

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What happened to"It's a free country"? It should be my choice to have the vaccine or not. I have a very good immune system and am never out sick, except the one time I got the vaccine and had to be out for three days due to high fever. The vaccine only protects against a few different strains, and it isnt 100% effective. It also comes with risks, and even though they are "rare", it should be my choice whether I want to take that risk or not. If it is a condition of employment, will be able to sue for compensation and lost wages if I get a debilitating adverse effect such as Guillian - Berre...no, its take at your own risk. I feel that wearing a mask whithin 6 ft of patients, as well as universal precautions. during the flu season is sufficient.

# Posted By Lynn | 9/26/11 12:20 PM

I hope all the peeps at the MHA are getting the flu shot too! Lets see you at 100%

Something health-related such as a flu shot should never be a condition of employment! what's next? antidepressants so staff never get upset with a patient? Mandatory stimulants when forced to do OT? This mandate is a scary tract for a free country such as the USA. If health care workers don't want the vaccine, that signifies something doesnt it? Instead of listening to them just shut them up by firing them...not all medical people support the efficacy of flu shots...and its a hard thing to study but we could try...

how about vaccinating some hospital admins, make them run around a building with poor ventilation and work till they drop with no break and no food..and see how many get the flu?
And lets make participation in this study a condition of bonuses..um i mean employment..

# Posted By MAry | 10/2/11 11:50 AM

Not all hospital or healthcare employees have direct or any patient contact at all, so why should they be mandated to get the vaccine? The mandate calling for all employees to get the vaccine and the measures that are being deployed are downright frightening and is a probable cause for more resistance against the vaccination. Further, this is just not a one-time shot, or every 10 years, they want folks to have this shot every year!!! There are many ways to protect patients from the flu, such as requiring that all employees who have patient contact wear a mask, and granting people sick time if they feel ill, etc.

Tens of thousands of Americans die in a typical flu season. However, there are millions of Americans currently unemployed, yet it seems fitting to add to the unemployment numbers based on refusal of a vaccination??? As healthcare professionals, we need to demonstrate compassion for all perspectives of well-being.

# Posted By Ann | 11/16/11 12:05 PM

Will they mandate every patient receive the vaccine upon admission, anyone who wants to visit them, every person walking through the doors? We are healthcare professionals, trained in infection control measures, and inserviced annually on infection control. Look what happened when antibiotics were over used; super infections resisant to drug therapy. Mandating immunizations for employment is a dangerous road to travel, where does it stop? What about potential side effects, they do occur, what if I'm that rare instance? Will the hospial assume my expenses and financially support me? What is injected into my body is my decision. This is still the United States of America, land of the free, isn't it?

# Posted By VG | 8/6/12 8:47 AM

"Bold decisions" are not necessarily good decisions. In large healthcare organizations, hundreds of employees have no more direct patient contact than employees in non healthcare organizations. This trend towards employers dictating what employees must do, outside of their actual jobs, needs to stop. I can only hope that affected employees will seek legal assistance in pushing back against these intrusions into their personal lives.

# Posted By Lg | 9/24/12 12:34 PM

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