All nurses in New York State have been mandated to take the seasonal flu and H1N1 flu vaccine.

Some facilities have said take the vaccine or lose your job. What would you do?

New York nurses don't have the wait and see option that you have. They will be the ones to test out the new vaccine to make it safer for you.

This vaccine has been tested on large pools of volunteers. It appears the side effects are comparable to those with the "normal" annual flu vaccines. In 1976 the goverment freaked about "swine flu" and rolled out a vaccine that had a very short (if any) testing period. More than a few people developed Guillain Barre as a result of this vaccine.

However, the Hepatitis B Recombinant vaccine is used on millions of people at present. You probably have had that series. My mother was a community health nurse for IHS on the Navajo reservation when she began that series. After the first injection she developed a low grade fever and aches in joints etc. These symptoms subsided and she correctly attributed the symptoms to side effects of the injection.

However, after her next scheduled injection she began to develop more serious side effects and had to be transferred to the UNM Hospital and Medical Center in Albuquerque. She had some difficulty breathing and some noted neuro deficits in both her fine and gross motor skills. After a battery of exams it was determined she had Guillain Barre. While there was no direct proof at the moment that the vaccine had caused the syndrome the doctors there advised her to not continue the series at that point. It took almost a year for the symptoms to disappear. By then it was determined that there was a chance of developing GBS from the series and information as to such is now contained in the literature.

I took the swine flu injection in 1976 and suffered no ill effects other than having less patience with idiots, which shows through here on other topic posts.

But I would not be afraid to take this series and am planning to submit to the same request here at my work and take the shots.

If you get the flu, you can also develop GB. 

I would think that if you became disabled as a direct provable link to a vaccine, that it would fall under workmans comp.  Additionally, there is a national vaccine fund, that you can apply to for assistance

http://www.hrsa.gov/vaccinecompensation/VIC_Trust_Fund.htm

The Vaccine Injury Compensation Trust Fund (Trust Fund) provides funding for the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) to compensate vaccine-related injury or death claims for covered vaccines administered on or after October 1, 1988. The Trust Fund is funded by a $0.75 excise tax on each dose of vaccine purchased (i.e., each disease prevented in a dose of vaccine). For example, the excise tax imposed on a dose of trivalent influenza vaccine is $0.75 because it prevents one disease, whereas the excise tax imposed on a dose of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine is $2.25 because prevents three diseases. The taxable vaccines have also been recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for routine administration to children.

The Department of Treasury collects the excise taxes, and oversees and manages the investing activities for the Trust Fund. As of January 31, 2007, the Trust Fund balance was nearly $2.5 billion. The Trust Fund monthly reports are available on the Treasury’s Bureau of Public Debt Website

Reading the PDF of the NY regs you posted it is clear that it is required. Without going off on that tangent I will say this is another reason nurses need to unionize.

However, back to the vaccine. My arm swells up in a reaction to the annual flu vaccinations but otherwise I only get the normal aches and slightly elevated temp for a few hours. Despite my mother's experience I have completed 2 rounds of Hep B vaccinations, Hep A vaccination and will get both of these flu shots.

As for your lack of disability - can't you modify your plan during open enrollment periods? I'm in Texas but even here we have the opportunity twice a year to modify our selections.

No I was with Albuquerque Ambulance Company as an EMT-A. We lined up like fish and got the shots. Nothing ever happened to me or any of the other guys at work either. And I didn't get the swine flu, just ended up acting like one once in awhile.

My hospital in Chicago is mandating for staff to get the flu and H1N1 vaccine. I received my first flu shot since 1990 and did not have any side affects. Thank God! The H1N1 vaccines will be available in about two weeks. I am still questioning whether I will get it or sign the opt out release form. But I am highly considering. I would like for it to be out a little longer before I get it to see any side effects.

Ido not agree with people being forced to take the H1N1 flu shot. Especially since I have a child who was diagnosed with Guillain Barre Syndrome at the age of 5. He is now 24 years old but we have been told for years that he can't take the flu shot because it will kill him. I do not want this to happen. Has anyone Ever taken into consideration those for whom it is dangerous to take it?

Sorry, but no job has the right to force a vaccination on you. If there was proof that there were no side effects, that may be one thing, but, I've heard that H1N1 can cause Gilliam -Barre syndrome. Sorry, but if that's a possibilty, then nurses should have a right to choose whether or not thay want the shot. I myself have decided I will probably not get the vaccine. The age groups at risk are children.

I've heard of parents refusing to immunize their children b/c of studies that it may cause autism. Why should a hospital be allowed to make that decision for a nurse? This a violation of someone's rights, and I was shocked when I read this article in my nurseweek publication.

As Mr. Brown has stated, this should be one of the many reasons why nurses should unionize to protect themselves. There is power in numbers.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/guillain-barre-syndrome/DS00413/DSECTION=causes

Mayo Clinic ;  causes of guillain barre;

My thought is this, if you get GB from the flu shot, you were probably going to get it right from the flu anyway.

I would never take the shot, nobody can force me too.  I have never taken the regular flu shot and have not had the flu since 1977.  If you have the antibody from the 1976 swine flu, this strain is not as virulent and you do not need it.  The Govt is just trying to force people to do things.

What a crappy Marxist, sociolistic society we live in.  I liked it when we had freedom of choice.  You get sick you stay home....

Kittyrn says ...

Here's my problem with people, especially health care workers NOT taking the flu shot.

I have a grand neice that struggled with ALL for several years, and thanks to intensive intrathecal chemotherapy, she is alive and well.  Her whole immune system was shut down...additionally she couldn't get routine childhood vaccinations. 

How many chemo patients, have prodromal nurses passed in the elevator, the hall, or down at the cafeteria.  It's our job to protect those that are sick.  Any infection can kill a cancer patient.  Poor Megan couldn't even be taken to Wal-mart for fear of passing or touching anything that was potentially infective. 

I don't care if you get sick with the flu, but how many people as a healthcare worker do you expose to potentially murderous viruses, because you refuse to get vaccinated.  When you are prodromal, you aren't home, you are working.

That's why handwashing and personal hygiene are so important.  I know that there are a lot of people in the health care field that do not practice this, but it doesn't mean that I would have to be forced to do something I do not think is right.  If a health care worker and a bunch of them would get sick from the shot, then who would take care of the patients??? Not everyone gets ill from the shot, but a lot of people do not tolerate it well.  So, they just don't have a job? 

If a health care worker and a bunch of them would get sick from the shot, then who would take care of the patients??? Not everyone gets ill from the shot, but a lot of people do not tolerate it well. 

You understand that more people will get the flu from not having the shot, and it's not the other way around?  So who's going to take care of the patients when all the healthcare workers are out with the flu? 

I took the H1n1 vaccine yesterday.  Nothing but a sore arm. Hundreds of us at my hospital, have already recieved the shot or nasal spray.   My kids are going to get the shot as well through the school system.

I'm proud to declare that I am now administering H1N1 vaccines for the county of SD here in SoCal. Of course it is a personal choice to decide whether or not to get the shot (or nasal spray) unless it comes to health care... Who would be left to care for the sick if we all end up missing work? or spread the virus further?

I highly advise getting the "dead" virus to everyone!