Dive Brief:
- The Massachusetts Nurses Association has sued Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital over a pending policy that would demand that nurses get flu shots if they want to keep their jobs.
- Brigham and Women's action comes as state public health officials insist that hospitals improve the flu vaccination rate among healthcare workers, which varied in hospitals from 62% to 99% during the most recent flu season. Brigham has not been able to push its worker flu vaccination rate over 77% despite offering free shots around the clock.
- The Massachusetts Nurses Association, a union which represents 3,200 nurses at the Brigham, argues that the mandate, which could lead to employee firings, violates the state regulation barring hospitals from requiring employees to receive the vaccine if they don't want it.
Dive Insight:
Unlike the nurses' union, the Massachusetts Hospital Association has long been in favor of mandatory flu vaccination for healthcare workers. The Association notes that hospitals that require flu shots as a condition of employment have higher vaccination rates. Lynn Nicholas, president of the MHA, excoriated the union's position, arguing that it is "putting a pet peeve of theirs above the safety and well-being of patients they serve, their families, visitors to the hospital and their colleagues."
But the union doesn't see it that way. David Schildmeier, spokesman for the nurses' union, emphatically denied that the union's opposition to forced flu shots is a "pet peeve." He noted that while nurses accept requirements to be vaccinated against numerous diseases, some regard the flu vaccine in a different light, as shots must be taken every year and are ineffective 50% to 60% of the time. He contends that nurses can protect patients by using infection control measures.
If the union wins this case, several area hospitals may have to discontinue policies requiring flu vaccinations as a condition of employment. It's not clear how these hospitals, or Brigham for that matter, will meet state public health standards if this tool is taken away from them.