Influenza season is here again so it is time for everybody to add getting a flu shot to their “to-do” list. It is recommended for everyone to get flu shot from ages 6 months and older (McCarthy 1). It is the obligation of healthcare works and their employers to promote influenza vaccinations to patients and is an annual requirement for the workers as well (Lynkowski 1). Winter season is time for healthcare workers to get in line, roll up their sleeves and consent to treatment for a flu shot. For the hospital, their goal is to get all employees vaccinated, especially those who have direct contact with patients which brings up a number of ethical issues arising from the attempts to implement mandatory flu shots (Dubov 2530). The mandatory vaccination requirement is regularly a point of concern to those who have objections to vaccinations. Flu shots should be mandatory for healthcare workers despite objections in order to protect patients and to minimize work days missed due to illness.
According to CDC, 85% of healthcare workers get flu vaccine because they don’t want to get the flu, about 58% said they wanted to protect their families and friends, and transmission to patients was a concern of 38% of
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While the exact statistics of missed work days/hours for those not vaccinated is difficult to ascertain, studies have found that are 86% of healthcare professionals have reported leaving work if they have influenza and 59% recall cases in the past where they worked despite having influenza like symptoms (Dubov 2533). Effects of missed work days are financial and resource burden for the hospital due to personnel calling in sick which are then filled by registry staffing. Hospital policy often prohibits working without vaccinations which can cause shortfalls in staffing and requires healthcare workers to sign a vaccination declination form (Dubov