Flu Shots for Hospital Staff

On January 18,2013 in an article called, “Getting a Flu Shot Can be Sticking Point with Healthcare Workers” from the Los Angeles Times, Anna Gorman reported that hospital administrators are struggling with whether to compel doctors, nurses, and other medical staff to get vaccinated, since flu cases are increasing in California. According to a report by the California Department of Public Health, each year only about sixty percent of hospital workers receive vaccination. The federal government has set a goal of ninety percent by 2020. Under state law, hospitals must offer the shot to their workers free of charge and have them sign a declaration if they do not want it. However, there is no law that requires hospital staff to receive vaccination. Some administrators have made it a condition of employment at some facilities, but others only instruct them to wear a mask for the entire flu season. Sherlyn Ocampo, a nurse who works on the medical/surgical unit at a hospital and receives vaccination every year, stated, “I don’t want to get sick. I don’t want to get my patients sick” (Los Angeles Times). It is extremely important for the entire hospital staff to receive vaccination because their jobs put them in a position of spreading the virus to a large group of patients. The federal government is working on making new laws about this issue because it is unfair that people walk into a hospital for treatment, but end up catching a deadly flu instead.