With the heightened awareness of flu this season, health care facilities are calling and asking if our travel nurses are vaccinated. AMN Services asked Marcia Faller, MSN, RN, executive vice president and chief clinical officer, what’s behind the recent requests.
Q. As a leading staffing company, what are you seeing in terms of requests right now?
A. More than ever before, we have providers calling to ask if our travelers have been or will be vaccinated from the flu, both the seasonal and novel H1N1 strains. We know that the nation’s vaccination rate among health care workers is less than 50 percent for the seasonal flu vaccine, but this year, with H1N1, the topic has gotten everyone’s attention.
Q. Why do you think nurses and other clinicians are sometimes hesitant to get vaccinated?
A. I think some of it is just busy-ness: taking time out can seem difficult. Like other people, clinicians may not believe the flu vaccines are necessary, especially if they don’t tend to get sick, and might feel that the risks outweigh the benefits.
Q. Are flu vaccinations required?
A. AMN Healthcare does not require influenza vaccinations, although some facilities are requiring that core and supplemental staff get vaccinated. Check with the employee health nurse or your manager at your assignment facility to see if the vaccine is available to you. The other option is to go through your insurance. You can find more information about vaccination benefits through your insurance company. New York State issued a requirement for health care professionals to be vaccinated, which is currently under review by the State Supreme Court. If upheld, all health care workers who have contact with patients in New York would be required to get both standard influenza and H1N1 shots. Updates about the status of the mandate can be found on the New York State Department of Health Web site here: http://www.nyhealth.gov/diseases/communicable/influenza/seasonal/providers/2009-08-26_health_care_worker_mandatory_influenza_immunization.htm.
Q. Why it is important for travelers to get the flu vaccines?
A. Most importantly flu vaccines protect the health of each travel nurse and the patients they serve. We also need to take the lead from our hospital and clinic clients. This year the vaccination issue has everyone’s attention. Some experts predict as many as 40 percent of Americans could come down with the swine flu this year, but the vaccines could mitigate that and reduce the risk of illness significantly. Obviously health care workers have immediate exposure to those with the flu and can pass it along to patients who are typically physically vulnerable
The CDC has recommended that all health care workers get immunized, and hospitals are waking up and realizing they need to improve the vaccination rate of their own workers. They are asking their own staff as well as supplemental staff to help make that happen.
We strongly encourage our travelers to get the vaccines, for all of these reasons, and to improve their chances of getting the assignments they want. Without the flu vaccinations, they will find their assignment choices are limited.
Q. Are the seasonal flu and H1N1 flu vaccinations equally important?
A. Most of the push has been driven by the swine flu news, I think because it seems to be more contagious, especially among younger people, and is knocking patients out for a week or more. Regular flu is very important as well, but it hasn’t been as high on the radar. They go hand in hand, though, and are both very important.
Q. Should nurses wait and get both vaccines together?
A. They don’t need to wait. Most areas already have the seasonal flu vaccines available, and nurses should get those now, and then the H1N1 as soon as it is available. Depending on where you are, the swine flu vaccine might already be available, as well, or will be shortly.