Mandatory Influenza Vaccinations for healthcare providers can be a controversial topic for some and may propose a challenge to some provider’s ethical values and beliefs. The topic of mandatory vaccination for influenza (“flu”) has been widely studied and debated among professionals over several years. It is apparent that there is some movement towards a mandatory vaccination for influenza by healthcare institutions as the benefit out weighs the risk on several fronts. “Influenza infection is associated with 36,000 excess deaths and > 200,000 hospitalizations in the United States annually. It is the leading cause of vaccine-preventable death in the United States every year” (Babcock, Geminhart, Jones, Dunagan, & Woeltje, 2010, p. 459). However, influenza vaccinations among healthcare workers remain low despite large numbers of patients being infected with influenza each year. “Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines have called for healthcare workers (HCWs) to receive influenza vaccination since 1981, but influenza vaccination rates among HCWs in the United States remain low (40%)” (Poland, Ofstead, Tucker & Beebe, 2008, p. 170). One looks to review the proposed policy, stakeholders and to justify why it is appropriate to require nurses and other healthcare providers to be vaccinated annually to prevent spread of influenza, alternatives to mandatory vaccination and propose a policy recommendation.
Background
It is justifiable to think that requiring healthcare providers to have annual vaccinations are appropriate because it provides a multitude of benefits to patients, institutions and to the staff who are vaccinated. As a rise of non-reimbursement by Medicare and Medicaid for nosocomial acquired infectio...
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Although people should have the freedom to choose to be vaccinated, the public needs to be educated about the personal, economical, and social benefits of receiving the influenza vaccine. In addition, people who are at a high risk of contracting influenza as well as health care providers should be encouraged to receive an influenza vaccine in order to decrease the major health burden associated with the disease. Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is a viral infection of the respiratory system and it is characterized by abrupt onset of fever, sore throat, and nonproductive cough. Influenza is spread from person to person by inhalation of the droplets produced when a person infected with influenza coughs or sneezes. In addition, it can also be spread by contact with infected objects such as utensils.
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Illnesses have long haunted the human race. As long as these illnesses have existed, humans have developed ways to cure themselves, beginning with simple herbs and proceeding as far as vaccines and complex medicines. One cure that long eluded scientists was that of the influenza virus. Now, the influenza vaccine, or flu shot, saves thousands of lives a year and helps prevent serious complications resulting from influenza infection.
The ethics of federal mandatory vaccination in the United States can be determined through the following case-study.
A recent study has shown that the US healthcare system deals with nearly 25 million cases of influenza each year. In a typical year, as many as one person in five in the US comes down with the flu, resulting in more than 200,000hospitalizations. The financial costs are huge, not least for employers. For each episode of illness, an employee typically misses between a half day and five days of work. The cost incurred due to reduced productivity and disruption to work flow; together with other indirect costs, is enormous.
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It is a very controversial topic but I feel it should still be mandated, but if there are people that have objections, then we can have exemptions or find alternate ways of ensuring immunity. “Several states already have exemptions for cases of medical, religious and philosophical reason; if their reasons are logical or stand fair, then they do not have to be vaccinated. For example, California has medical exemptions, Florida has medical and religious reasons and Texas allows exemptions for philosophical, medical and or religious reasons. There should be, however, a system that ensures that everyone that have legitimate reasons for exemptions actually qualifies, otherwise more and more people will follow the bandwagon for exemption” (NVIC). All in all, my push for a mandate is very valid and will yield great results, but I do understand there are risks and liabilities to be held, so my opponent's argument does stand. I hope I both sides can come to the conclusion I posed so we can all benefit but keep our
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For innumerable centuries, unrelenting strains of disease have ravaged society. From the polio epidemic in the twentieth century to the measles cases in the latter half of the century, such an adverse component of nature has taken the lives of many. In 1796, Edward Jenner discovered that exposure to cowpox could foster immunity against smallpox; through injecting the cowpox into another person’s arm, he founded the revolutionary concept known as a vaccination. While many attribute the eradication of various diseases to vaccines, many United States citizens are progressively beginning to oppose them. Many deludedly thought that Measles had been completely terminated throughout the United States; however, many children have been patronized by