[suicidesaints]

http://news.yahoo.com/nurses-fired-r...ws-health.html

So this nurse was fired for not taking a flu shot.

Thoughts on mandatory vaccines? Should it depend on where you work (hospital)?

[Jake Gyllenhaal]

If it's hospital policy and they refuse, then the hospital has every right to terminate them. If the nurses refuses vaccination due to religious beliefs, then they should find work at another hospital that doesn't require vaccinations or find a new line of work.

[suicidesaints]

Originally Posted by Jake Gyllenhaal

If it's hospital policy and they refuse, then the hospital has every right to terminate them. If the nurses refuses vaccination due to religious beliefs, then they should find work at another hospital that doesn't require vaccinations or find a new line of work.

In this particular case, the nurse had been working there for over 20 years. I'm not sure if this was a new policy or not, but it seems odd that all of a sudden she'd be forced to get a flu shot... unless this is the first time she refused (which would also seem odd)

Do you think that all employers should have the right to require their employees to get a flu shot (if that's the policy they want to have) or do you think it's only applicable because it's a hospital?

Also, what do you think about other vaccines being mandatory? Either from the employee or the government or whomever else?

[Jake Gyllenhaal]

Employers should have the right to impose any vaccine/drug testing/lie-detector testing on their employees. If the employees object to it, then employers will just fire them and hire someone willing to be subjected to the tests.

[open mind]

Originally Posted by Jake Gyllenhaal

Employers should have the right to impose any vaccine/drug testing/lie-detector testing on their employees. If the employees object to it, then employers will just fire them and hire someone willing to be subjected to the tests.

is this sarcasm? i hope it is.

[suicidesaints]

Originally Posted by Jake Gyllenhaal

Employers should have the right to impose any vaccine/drug testing/lie-detector testing on their employees. If the employees object to it, then employers will just fire them and hire someone willing to be subjected to the tests.

I tend to agree with you in states like Texas (where I live) where it is a "right to work" state, meaning that you can be hired or fired for any reason (besides obvious discrimination, although they don't have to tell you why)... and you also have the right to chose weather or not to work somewhere based on their stipulation... however, you really think that an employer should have the right to impose ANY vaccine? What if they wanted to inject you with something that was untested or possibly unsafe... where is the line drawn?

Also, what about other mandatory vaccines (not employment related) - Do you think the government should be allowed to enforce mandatory vaccines? Does it depend on the circumstance (disease outbreak... something that would affect the rest of the population)

[ominousnimbus]

In her particular line of work I think it's a reasonable requirement, especially if there are no extenuating circumstances regarding her health (religious beliefs certainly don't count in my book). I don't think it should be something all corporations can require of their desk jockeys, though.

It does piss me off to think the flu spreads more widely in this country than it needs to just because so many idiots have arbitrary, stupid reasons not to get vaccinated (be it religion, tinfoil hat conspiracies, or Neo-Luddite thinking in general).

[suicidesaints]

Originally Posted by ominousnimbus

In her particular line of work I think it's a reasonable requirement, especially if there are no extenuating circumstances regarding her health (religious beliefs certainly don't count in my book). I don't think it should be something all corporations can require of their desk jockeys, though.

It does piss me off to think the flu spreads more widely in this country than it needs to just because so many idiots have arbitrary, stupid reasons not to get vaccinated (be it religion, tinfoil hat conspiracies, or Neo-Luddite thinking in general).

http://www.examiner.com/article/ten-...-a-flu-vaccine

not everyone's reasoning for not getting a flu vaccine is "stupid"

I agree that in her particular line of work, it's more reasonable than in most... but are there not other alternatives. Could she have worn a mask to work? Could she have went for a natural alternative that is proven just as effective?

[RyanPm40]

Guys, all hospitals require certain vaccinations and background checks for their workers for the safety of their patients and staff. It's pretty common. To do my clinical, I needed a flu shot, hep b shot, mumps, measles, rubella, tetanus, TB test, and a full background check (and probably more, I don't remember it all haha). Idk, I don't see the big deal... this reminds me, I completely forgot to get another flu shot this season... woops haha

[suicidesaints]

Originally Posted by RyanPm40

Guys, all hospitals require certain vaccinations and background checks for their workers for the safety of their patients and staff. It's pretty common. To do my clinical, I needed a flu shot, hep b shot, mumps, measles, rubella, tetanus, TB test, and a full background check (and probably more, I don't remember it all haha). Idk, I don't see the big deal... this reminds me, I completely forgot to get another flu shot this season... woops haha

Well, maybe it's not a big deal at a place like a hospital... but it would be a bigger deal if it were at a place like Wal-Mart or somewhere where you are not treating sick patients.

I think the real issue is, when/where is it appropriate to force people to be vaccinated, and was this employee ever previously required to be vaccinated (she worked there for 20+ years)

[sjb2k1]

seems pretty reasonable to me that someone working in a hospital be made to get a flu shot or other vaccinations to be able to work/continue working there. too bad for them.

[RyanPm40]

Originally Posted by suicidesaints

Well, maybe it's not a big deal at a place like a hospital... but it would be a bigger deal if it were at a place like Wal-Mart or somewhere where you are not treating sick patients.

I think the real issue is, when/where is it appropriate to force people to be vaccinated, and was this employee ever previously required to be vaccinated (she worked there for 20+ years)

Seems to me from the article, she never got one before, but due to an increased risk in her area that year, they made it mandatory. She usually got a waiver due to religious reasons. Idk, I'm kind of on the fence for this. I understand why a hospital would require this, and I too live in a place where they can fire you for any non-discriminatory reason, so I'm used to places of employment being that way. But, on the other hand, if it goes against her religious beliefs, I don't see why she can't be given the option to wear a mask. Do you know how many times nurses go into a patient's room with precautions for MRSA and barely wear their required Personal Protective Equipment and then go onto the next room? It's pretty shocking how many hospitals look the other way for basic, standard procedures that any nursing school would teach. That's far worse than the flu, in my opinion.

But, yeah, I agree it'd be a huger deal at Wal-Mart. It should only be a requirement in medical facilities, in my opinion, because it has people who are already sick, weak, and with compromised immune systems, making them a larger risk of death from the influenza virus.

[sjb2k1]

heh, walmart would probably never require it...or require it and make employees pay for it

[Jake Gyllenhaal]

Originally Posted by open mind

is this sarcasm? i hope it is.

For the most part, it's not sarcasm. Employers should have the right to only employ healthy, virus-free, drug-free, honest employees. Testing would only weed out the undesirables.

[suicidesaints]

Originally Posted by Jake Gyllenhaal

For the most part, it's not sarcasm. Employers should have the right to only employ healthy, virus-free, drug-free, honest employees. Testing would only weed out the undesirables.

I think the person who asked if you were being sarcastic, posed that question because you said that an employer should be able to make their employee take ANY vaccine they deem fit