Nurses union says NO to mandatory flu shots

It’s easy not to get a flu shot. Just keep your sleeves rolled down and walk quickly past that pharmacy counter.

But if you’re a nurse, it’s a bit more complicated.

And especially if you work for the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

The hospital wants to be able to fire any nurse who refuses a flu shot. But the nurse’s union says not so fast.

Apparently any rules mandating flu-shots fly in the face of a Massachusetts regulation saying that a hospital can’t force nurses to get the vaccine — for any reason.

David Schildmeier, a spokesman for the nurse’s union called that exemption “crystal clear.”

“Every employee has a right to decline (a flu shot)” he said.

Schildmeier said that while the nurses receive polio shots, as well as other vaccinations, they draw the line at the flu shot.

He pointed out that the flu vaccine doesn’t work up to 60 percent of the time, and that there are many other ways to protect hospital patients from catching the virus.

The union, which represents over 3000 nurses at the hospital, has managed — so far — to block the firing of any nurse who has refused the flu jab. And it hopes the court will agree with it.

But the hospital says the union is being an “obstacle to immunization.”

It sounds more like the hospital is being an “obstacle” to the truth about just how well the flu vaccine really works.

Sources:
“Brigham and Women’s nurses sue over flu shot mandate” Felice J. Freyer, September 25, 2014, The Boston Globe, bostonglobe.com