Flu Vaccine, Is It My Choice?

Something that has been circling the media recently is the issue on immunizations. While this has been a hot topic for some time the more recent issue when it comes to immunizations is regarding the current measles outbreak. It would be quite a lengthy blog post if I chose to focus on the issue of immunizations as a whole. Instead I want to focus on something that will directly affect me as I inch nearer into the field of nursing. 

Over the past few years more and more hospitals have been enforcing a mandate to all long-term health care workers to receive the influenza vaccine. This mandate has caused quite a stir with several health care workers across the United States and more specifically in Indiana. In 2012 ABC News did a report titled, Eight Hospital Employees Fired For Refusing Flu Vaccines, in which like the title says, 8 of IU Health’s 26,000 employees were fired for noncompliance to the influenza vaccination mandate. This mandate offers an exemption for those whose religious beliefs would not allow the influenza vaccine for it is considered going against their religion of not using conventional medicine. The mandate also offers an exemption for medical purposes, that for some medical reason it would be deemed unsafe for you to receive the flu shot.  The hospitals exclaim this mandate is to ensure safety of patients and employees and they have quite the support to help validate this mandate. On the other hand some of the health care workers feel this is a violation of their rights and should be allowed to choose if they want to receive the flu shot or not. I am not here to argue one way or the other... just to bring awareness. This is something I will have to deal with when I am a health care worker working in a hospital. 

Flu Vaccine, is it my choice?

Relating this issue even closer to my current life and the decisions ahead of me, is my school's policy on immunizations. Ivy Tech's policy is indeed pro vaccination. In the near future I will have a decision to make. I'll tell you right now, I have NEVER EVER received the influenza vaccine, not once. Have I ever had the flu? I think maybe twice, but I never went to the doctor and had a swab test to confirm it was actually the flu. I have never considered getting the flu shot before now. It's never been required of me and I am generally not around a mass amount of people that I would fear being exposed or infected. I don't have children, I don't deal with the general public often, I don't currently deal with sick people, I am not pregnant, I am healthy, I don't have a compromised immune system, I wash my hands, I am not elderly, and I am obviously not a small child. Am I ignorant? Possibly, the verdict is still out on that one. Am I scared of needles? Nope, as long as I'm not in a dentist's chair. Do I live in a bubble? One might think so, but I like my bubble. Notice there were a lot of "I's" in my explanation, which makes me feel rather selfish, but let's be honest aren't we all looking out for our own best interest most of the time? Any one of  my reasons for not thinking I need the vaccine can easily change. So, given the possibility that I could still be exposed to someone who has the flu and become infected and then infect others is it worth the risk to not get the vaccine? That's for me to decide right, or is that another selfish move?