| New York Hospitals Forcing Health Care Workers to Get Flu Shot |
|
|
|
|
How many people do you know who chose to get the flu shot last year? Did you get it done? Personally, I have never gotten it, because I feel that since there are so many different strains of the flu, there are no guarantees of which strain will be the one that comes around that particular year anyway! However, I do end up getting the flu almost every winter, so I don't really know if my logic works... Even though my flu shot choices may not always be the smartest choices, the important thing is that it is still my choice! I can choose whether or not I get the flu vaccine, no matter what anyone else thinks about my decision. Even if my boss at work were to think or even advise me to get the flu shot this year, it would still only be advice - I would not have to listen or take his or her advice. I am free to make my own decisions on this matter. I have taken this freedom for granted for a few years now, and it has shocked me a bit to find out that I shouldn't take it for granted! Apparently, in the state of New York, health care companies are actually forcing their employees to get the flu shot. This issue has caused some debate across the country, because people are thinking that this may cause other companies to force their employees to get the flu shot. What would you do if your boss told you that you had to get the flu shot this year? Especially if you didn't want it to begin with! You may be thinking that it doesn't matter for the health care workers to be forced into the flu shot, because they all get it anyway, being in health care. Actually, a recent study has come out about that, and it says that about 50% of health care workers in this country do not choose the get the flu shot! That can mean one of 2 things: that they don't really care about putting our lives in jeopardy (or at least our health!) or they know something that we don't. Since recent news has come out that the flu shot will actually make you more at risk for the new strain of the flu, the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, as it's more commonly known. This could be one of the reasons why half of the health care workers in this country are refusing to get the flu shot, or it might not be. Either way, it doesn't make me too comfortable about the flu shot and the fact that people are being forced to get it - especially when their jobs are literally on the line if they refuse! I used to work in the health care field, and one of the things we learned in the first few weeks of the job was that patients have rights, and one of those rights was that they had the right to refuse medication. If the patients in these hospitals have the right to refuse certain medications, shouldn't the health care workers have the same right? |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
