@mentor- It's not "impossible" to get sick from a vaccination. It might not be the influenza virus that makes you sick, because shots only contain protiens, not live virus. The sprays however do contain live virus and they most certainly can make you ill with the flu and the person receiving that will be shedding live virus for days after getting vaccinated.
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But there are lots of nasty things in a flu shot. Most people can handle that with little to no apparent effect. Some can't. Your body will react to that junk in your body. It's like that with lots of stuff that isn't all that great for you. hangovers feel a lot like being "sick". Spend too much time out in the sun? Sure feels like a sickness to me. your body responds in similar ways to things that don't agree with it to put it simply.
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so while it's not the "flu" making you sick, you can certainly be "sick" from a flu shot.

@equinox, funny isn't it? This seems to be much more about marketing and generating a larger market than anything to do with patient health or safety. In the real world, flu vaccination efficacy has been atrocious. Minimal to no effect on real world illness, mortality or hospitalizations. Nice huh? This policy is about lobbying dollars at work, not healthcare.
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10 years ago it was less than 20% of healthcare professionals got the flu shot. Then they started giving paid vacations, weekend trips to casinos, extra paid sick days etc as incentives to get more to get the shot. Some even started early on the mandatory wagon.
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It still only got the rates for healthcare workers up to about 40%. Marketers have done a great job scaring the unknowing public into thinking they're doing something beneficial or necessary. So much so, they'll back a policy like this that says get the shot or lose your job, it's how it should be.
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It's been a thorn in the side of the vaccine makers for a long time. They market it as a health product, yet healthcare workers do not get it, or at least they didn't. I asked before, was it because they were lazy? they didn't have access to it? or maybe they know better???
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Now it's practically medicine by gunpoint. Get the shot, not because you think it will help you, not because it has a great track record, not because the safety and efficacy are such that there is no way you could refuse it, nope, not any of those reasons. Get it or else you will lose your job, your stability, your income and waste all those years of school and hardwork getting to where you are.
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I wonder how the 30 year old mother of 3 working as a nurse in an IA hospital that suffered the rare but real side effect of flu vaccination, anaphylaxis and almost died 2 Thanksgivings ago would feel about mandatory flu shots??? I wonder how you would feel if that was you or your mother that almost died?? I wonder how you would feel knowing that the efficacy in the real world is almost laughable, no matter how much makers want to tell you it's "your best defense" against the flu?

I've been in the healthcare field over 25 years, yes they could tell me what kind of uniform I had to wear, what hours I had to work but it's against my civil rights to force me to take a drug that makes me violently ill.
I've had the flu shot 5 times in my life and only because I made the choice to get one. Three times were nothing but a sore arm, one time I was bedridden for a solid two weeks, one time - the LAST time - I required 4 days in the hospital and 3 weeks bed rest. I live in a free country no one can force me to take drugs I do not wish to take.
Yes this is a free country, I can find a different job, just like a person is free to choose, which mall, store, school, hospital they walk into. I should not be forced to give up my income because I refuse to have drugs forced on me against my will.
Why stop at hospitals? Schools are a major flu breeding ground, force every child to get a flue shot. Schools, Walmart, malls, hardware stores are all major breeding grounds for flu. Shall we have security at the doors to turn away any free American who doesn't have a card saying they have had a flue shot?
As a healthcare provider I can assure you I wash my hands 100% more than the average free American and school aged person.
My point- fire every teacher, factory worker, Walmart worker, mall worker, construction worker, and so on if they have not had a flu shot. Health care workers wash and cover a lot more than any other employee.
Fine the mothers/fathers that bring their sick child to the mall/school/Walmart. Then the healthcare workers wouldn't need to be forced to take drugs they don't want to in order to feed their family.

I also work in the Healthcare field as a Nurse. I get the flu shot every year, have mixed feelings on it...as it does only protect you from certain strains of influenza. However, I believe that for the most part, vaccines DO protect you the majority of the time and are beneficial. BUT, I don't believe that it should be MANDATORY to receive them as an employee. It is not something as simple as a dress code, etc,...it is a man made medication that is injected into your body. Some people have strong beliefs against vaccines. I DO believe that if you don't receive it and are ill, you should not go to work OR if you have a cough, wear a mask. Handwashing is always important and common sense practice. Wow, we can't mandate drug testing for the Welfare recipients, but NOW, it is mandatory for some workers to have drug testing, plus a medication injected into them in order for them to keep their job and income. Incredible.

I know they say it's impossible, but every time I get the flu shot, I get really sick within just a couple days. Every. Single. Time. Maybe it's technically not the flu, though it feels like it, but if I'm going to get sick anyway, I may as well not waste my time on the shot.

As with any employer imposed conditions...everyone is free to choose to comply or work elsewhere...free choice....that's what makes this country great.

A little investigative reporting would have revealed that medicare is behind all of this. They are offering incentives to hospitals and health systems in the form of increased reimbursements for following specific initiatives such as this.

I don't need a dissertation on vaccination, i'm pretty sure I learned quite a bit working with Dr. Callister in LaX on a vaccine brought to market. I'm not talking about measles, mumps, rubella, i'm talking about the flu shot.
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and yes, there is evidence for the efficacy of the flu shot, done by those selling flu shots. In the real world, studies have shown it to have very little to any effect.
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the only option is death???? Thanks for the dramatics :) But it's hardly the case and you know it.

@zdog, There is evidence of effacacy of vaccinations. Look at Hep B. Once vaccinated, your body will fight off any exposure. Same with measles, mumps, rubella, tetanus, diphtheria, pertusis, polio, variacella. Smallpox IS eradicated and only exists in laboratories. Most people don't even know what the flu even is. It doesn't cause nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. This is gastroenteritis not the flu. The flu is a severe cold, basically. Another thing a lot of people do not understand is there are thousands of strains of flu. A flu shot is only effective against 3 strains, the most likely for that year. If yoiu get a different strain of flu, the shot is not effective. The highest concern in this is that as healthcare providers we are not only exposed to the sickest of the sick, we are bound to protect patients all the time. This is not for the benefit of a healthcare provider, its for the benefit of the weak, the elders, the very young, and the immunocomprimised. In this situation, the providers have a choice, get the shot, or find other employment. Sometimes in life we don't get the options we want, be we still have a choice. The mandatory flu shot has been upheld by the supreme court as constitutional and in the best interests of the people as a whole.The providers have a choice, it may not be the one they want, but they have a choice. The vulnerable that die due to exposure to the flu for their providers don't have a choice, there is only one option, death.

Zdog, I'm right there with you. I am an ER nurse and haven't received the shot in years. What people don't realize is that the vaccine is an educated guess of the 3 top predicted strains for that year, and there are thousands of subtypes of virsuses. The last few years they have been way off in the predicitions. Albeit a small risk, there is the risk of Guillain Barre Syndrome. If one is immune compromised I would consider it, but otherwise I find it unneccessary for myself. Do your research people - did you know that some of the vaccines contained Thimerosal, a mercury derivative? Like a doctor once told me: "you're exposed to just as much disease out shopping in the stores as you are in the hospital" - think about it!

Get the flu shot. All health care facilities should require it. If you don't like it, get a different job. Nurses are required to get all kinds of vaccinations. This shouldn't even be an issue.

I never get the vaccine and have never had the flu. Maybe it's unnecessary?

My experience as an RN that graduated over 50 years ago is that a yearly flu shot as a preventative was standard for all those years. What makes 2012 reason to change.
I still get flu vaccine and have never had the flu. Maybe it does work??

After my infant child seized from a vaccination the nurse said "this is normal dad don't freak out". My child then staired blankly for a couple days and I've worried ever since. Never again.

Good posts zdog. Don't get too worked up over JoyM who herself admits she thinks a mandatory shot full of God-knows-what is the same as washing hands or wearing a mask.

Beloit Health System has done this also...would much rather take the shot than have to wear a mask all the time!

Completely agree with you zdog!

I do not believe that it's fair to require employees get a vaccine as a condition of their employment. The vaccine is no guarentee and in some cases can be contradictory to a persons health and well being. I plan on getting the vaccine myself, but have no right to expect someone else to do so. Good hand washing and common sense (not to work when your ill and covering your mouth when you cough) will do far more to protect your patients! Getting the vaccine will hopefully protect the person getting it, not prevent them from spreading the virus! Of course, if you do get sick..you will definately increase the risk of spreading the virus if you work when ill and do not take standard precautions.

As a precaution, the facility that I work at is requiring staff who have not had the flu shot, to wear a face mask while at work "if" more than two of their patients are exhibiting signs of flu symptoms during the next few months.

NO vaccination is 100%, Profits are! Why risk your health.

Yes, I do have sources, and easy one for you to look up are the Cochrane Database studies, google it, then you can read up on Cochrane and see where their bias lies as well.
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and A hospital in IA made them mandatory 2 years ago, Jessica, 30 year old mother of 3 and triathlete was hospitalized and on a ventilator for 1 week, just short of death for Thanksgiving. 2 years later she still doesn't have her "normal" walk and run back after a year of rehab. All Thanks to a reaction to a flu shot. Rare but real dangers. IMO, NOBODY has the right to mandate that to anybody. You being immunocompromised has no bearing on whether or not I have to take that risk, small as it may be. ANd like I said earlier, vaccination does not prevent people from being a carrier.
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If you're alive and walking around in the US you're probably carrying some influenza around at some point during any given year.

I am a contracted provider for several HMO's and insurance companies. I for the first time this year was forced to either get the flu shot or be removed from the provider panel. I can attest to the fact that this is a growing trend and UW Health is not the only large organization doing this.

zdog - Do you have any actual sources to back up any of your claims? Also, you said "the majority of unvaccinated people that come in contact with influenza also fight it off naturally" and you're probably right about that. The problem is that medical workers come in to contact with A LOT of people that are immunocompromised or otherwise at risk. That's where the problem lies. I'm sure the UW is providing the vaccine at no cost to their employees, and if they're not, most insurance companies cover it at little or no cost anyway.

Personally, I think it should be mandated at every medical facility. Anyone that is that against vaccines and that kind of thing probably shouldn't have gotten a job in the medical field to begin with, but regardless, the article clearly states that they are making an exception for those that submit a religious or medical waiver. For me the bottom line is that if there is anything we can possibly do to help prevent people from getting this that do not have the immune system to fight it off, we should. No, it's not 100% guaranteed. No, it won't help in every case. However, if this year's vaccine turns out to be well matched with what virus is circulating out there, a lot of people can be helped with widespread vaccine use.

Thank you for posting, zdog. Couldn't agree more.

flu shots are horribly ineffective. They have had very little to zero efficacy in real world settings. That is just the reality of the situation. So if you could argue that it actually prevented "real" illness and reduced hospitalization rates or mortality, I might be more inclined to listen to the argument. As it stands, it's a marketing ploy and playing off people's ignorance that makes the flu shot seemingly popular. Most healthcare professionals, doctors and nurses alike, do NOT get flu shots. Do you ever wonder why that is? Too lazy? don't have access?? Or maybe they just know better?
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another, getting a flu shot does nothing to keep you from being a carrier, you might have some antibodies that help you fight it off early enough so you don't feel like you're sick, but then the majority of unvaccinated people that come in contact with influenza also fight it off naturallly with no apparent "illness" Both can be carriers, so both can spread it.
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and I am against drug testing. Either an employee can do a job or they can't. If you have reason to believe they are under the influence, test them, if not, let them work.
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and also YOUR desire to see me inject junk into my blody leaving me more likely to get Alzheimer's or exposing me to the rare, but very real risk of anaphylaxis, to ease your worried little mind infringes on MY rights to clean and healthy living. The door swings both ways.

zdog - most employers also have drug testing on what comes out of your body to make sure you DON'T put something in your body that may imperil our well-being, either. Unless you work for yourself, it is highly likely you've had to conform to that rule, too. IF you're not against that, too, then please explain why it is any different. It comes down to protecting my constitutional right to life, or at least the pursuit of happiness, that some drug-addled loser is not working alongside me like an accident waiting to happen or that virus-carrying medical personnel do not expose me to illnesses that my body may not be able to fight off.

Seems unconstitutional.

It's garbage. It's a garbage policy and a garbage vaccine. 20 years of increasing vaccination rates from around 10% to around 70% and what do we have to show for it????
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Billions in profit to the makers and no statistical change in hospitalization rates, illness, or death from the flu. Great product, lol
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Besides that, my employer has never known what was better for my body than I have. i'd like to keep them out of the decision on what goes in or out of my body thank you. I think most others would believe the same.

That is to say, your personal beliefs should not imperil my well-being.

You work in a medical field, you should expect to have to comply with strict protocols to protect patients. I don't see it as any different than requiring sanitizing your hands before you touch a patient or wearing a mask in the operating room.

I thought they liked mandates.

Why is this newsworthy? There's nothing wrong with UW Health requiring employees to get flu shots; it should be mandatory since most will deal with the public. Every health care facility should make it mandatory.