Influenza Immunization Policies and Nursing Concerns

Starting in early fall, Colorado Nurses Association (CNA) began receiving inquiries from nurses in several hospitals in Colorado regarding "mandatory influenza immunization policies" that were being implemented in their hospitals. Colorado Nurses Association and the American Nurses Association support the importance of health care workers obtaining influenza vaccinations. ANA encourages all registered nurses to obtain immunization but also believes that the vaccination policies should be implemented as part of a comprehensive program and should ensure broad, fair, and nondiscriminatory implementation. What were some of the concerns of nurses that communicated with CNA? One nurse identified that her facility was allowing two exemptions for immunizations: 1) religious and 2) medical. For either of these exemptions according to the report, a nurse had to submit written justification. In the case of medical contraindications/justifications--the information would be submitted to "human resources and senior management". The facility also reportedly expressed the right to overturn a medical reason.