Brigham and Women’s nurses sue over flu shot mandate

It's surprising that so many nurses want to opt out of something that is so beneficial and important. I work for a large teaching hospital and flu shots have been mandatory for several years now. Not just nurses and clinicians; everyone who works or volunteers in the hospital must get a year flu shot or employment is terminated. No one can opt out, not even on religious grounds. It's for the benefit of our patients and to avoid unnecessary abscenses from work. We've been told to relay to staff that the hospital isn't telling anyone to get a flu shot.....they are saying that you can't be employed here if you don't get a flu shot.

On 9/25/2014 chrystaltree said:

It's surprising that so many nurses want to opt out of something that is so beneficial and important. I work for a large teaching hospital and flu shots have been mandatory for several years now. Not just nurses and clinicians; everyone who works or volunteers in the hospital must get a year flu shot or employment is terminated. No one can opt out, not even on religious grounds. It's for the benefit of our patients and to avoid unnecessary abscenses from work. We've been told to relay to staff that the hospital isn't telling anyone to get a flu shot.....they are saying that you can't be employed here if you don't get a flu shot.

I work for a well known Cancer hospital and we too are required to get the flu shot IF we work directly with patients. I'm in a research department so we aren't required to get it, but of course I do get it every year. The institution gives them free to employees (got mine last Tuesday). However, there are people who have severe allergies to some components of the vaccine, and those people, even if they work the patients, are exempt from the mandatory requirement.

Sometimes I wonder if we are heading back into the Dark Ages.

There are so many science deniers of all types now.

Anyone in a health profession needs to protect their patients from their illnesses. It's a no-brainer, IMO!

Considering the science is very clear that flu shots are nowhere near 100% efficacious, and their efficacy drops precipitously when they are taken two years in a row, I am glad the Boston nurses are claiming their right to make their own informed medical consent decisions regarding annual flu shots. Good for them.

On 9/25/2014 Jersey Born said:

Considering the science is very clear that flu shots are nowhere near 100% efficacious, and their efficacy drops precipitously when they are taken two years in a row, I am glad the Boston nurses are claiming their right to make their own informed medical consent decisions regarding annual flu shots. Good for them.

On 9/13/2014 KYToby said:

This was posted in Viewpoints yesterday and fits right in here with the Q board doctors lol.

On 9/25/2014 terrier3 said:

Sometimes I wonder if we are heading back into the Dark Ages.

There are so many science deniers of all types now.

Anyone in a health profession needs to protect their patients from their illnesses. It's a no-brainer, IMO!

All the puffed up self important "experts" on the Internet (and anonymous nics on the Q boards) are responsible for deaths and sickness.

I'm no expert on flu shots, but these nurses seem selfish to me. Unless they have a disease like lupus or some other medical problem that prevents a shot, why won't they get it? Sick people can't tolerate the flu the way healthy people can. The patients should come first. The flu shot does provide some protection.

No one is causing anyone "deaths and sickness " here, but there are people here who are making very malicious comments about others. How sad.