Hospital Workers Fired For Refusing Flu Shots: Agree Or Disagree?

shutterstock_44980972You and I may be able to opt out of flu shots, but should doctors and nurses have the same right? No, according to some hospitals who insist that all employees get vaccinated. And for those for those who refuse? Well, some of them are actually getting fired.

With the worst flu season we’ve seen in decades, including the deaths of at least 20 children, it makes sense that the very people who are supposed to protect and help heal those who get infected–nurses and doctors–also protect themselves. After all, hospitals are notorious for spreading germs and infections. And while most hospital employees comply, some believe they have the right to refuse a flu shot–and not be reprimanded or fired for their choice.

According to, in the past two months at least 15 nurses and other hospital staffers in four states have been fired for refusing a flu shot. In addition, some employees have resigned over this. Others, like 1,000 workers in Rhode Island, have signed a petition against the mandate to get flu shot, and their labor union has filed a lawsuit opposing this regulation. To them, it’s their right to refuse.

From allergies, to religious reasons to skepticism over the effectiveness of a flu shot, some hospital workers are claiming that they shouldn’t be forced to get one. After all, the CDC says the flu shot is only likely to reduce your chances of getting sick by 62%. That’s a lot of people who will get vaccinated and still be at risk. In addition, the flu shot doesn’t protect against all strains of the illness, and it can lead to fever, aches and pains in those who get it.

“Where does it say that I am no longer a patient if I’m a nurse,” explained Carrie Calhoun to Calhoun is a longtime critical care nurse in Chicago who was actually fired last month for refusing to get a flu shot.

Others disagree. According to some studies, patients in nursing homes have a lower death rate from the flu if employees are vaccinated.

Tell us what you think. Should hospital staff be required to get the flu shot?



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    • NilesAkbar


    • Bea Shepard

      Not only should they not be forced to take flu shot, but the medicos need to unscrew their heads and advise people to cut back on the sugars that destroy the immune system. The real culprit is the American diet of sugary trash.

    • Flatulant

      They only fired like 8 people not the entire at one hospital. They fire them all or nobody.

    • pete

      Absolutely! They are not only refusing the shot but also the nasal application. They are exposed to flu infected patients and none infected alike. It’s not rational for them to be able to have a choice in the matter. As healthcare providers it’s their duty.

      • Jennifer C.

        I don’t think it is the TYPE of application that is the issue. It is the CHOICE to RECEIVE flu shots. Also, refer to my post above.

    • PB

      No, not necessary. Some people get more sick if you get flu shots. This years flu shot was the worst, did not work for anyone. If a person is healthy and don’t have history of sickness, he should not need a flu shot.

      • cupcakemuffin

        The point is not whether the WORKER would get ill, but whether they might pass it along to a vulnerable patient who in fact is at a very high risk of catching the flu, possibly with fatal results for at-risk patients.

    • James

      When flue shot’s contain poisonous heavy metals like Mercury, yes the same substance you were suited up for with a face mask and visor in high school during chemistry class? Remember? The same Mercury which they say is safe and your dear dentist fills your teeth with? Yes that deadly toxic metal which has been clinically proven to cause autism in children? Everyone should have the right to refuse those.

      This is along with other reasons, are why the hospital workers won’t take them.

      Do your research…

      • Terrell Gibbs

        It is possible to get flu vaccinations without mercury, if you are that paranoid about it. By the way, it is completely false that mercury has been clinically proven to cause autism. The symptoms of mercury poisoning are well known from environmental mercury contamination incidents, and do not include autism. And a great decrease in mercury exposure due to elimination of mercury-based preservative from childhood vaccines a decade ago has not led to any fall in incidence of autism. It is also now established that the particular form of mercury used in vaccines (ethyl mercury) is quite rapidly eliminated from the body, and is much less toxic than the form of mercury (methyl mercury) for which environmental mercury standards were originally developed.

        Working at a hospital entails some risk, because you are working around sick people who may carry contagious diseases. Anybody so frightened of the negligible risk associated with vaccines that they are willing to risk passing influenza on to vulnerable patients (some of whom will be have impaired immune systems), should find another line of work.

      • James

        Terrell Gibbs,





        “Aluminum is not perceived, I believe, by the public as a dangerous metal. Therefore, we are in a much more comfortable wicket in terms of defending its presence in vaccines,” said Dr. John Clements, WHO vaccine advisor.


        Why is Aluminum Added to Vaccines?





        How Aluminum Can Harm Your Brain





        The aluminum hydroxide used in many vaccines, including hepatitis A and B, and the Pentacel cocktail for diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, and meningitis, has been clearly linked to symptoms associated with Parkinson”s, ALS (Lou Gehrig”s disease), and Alzheimer”s.


        There is overwhelming evidence that chronic immune activation in your brain, as discussed by Dr. Blaylock above, is a major cause of damage in numerous degenerative brain disorders, from multiple sclerosis Alzheimer”s disease, Parkinson”s and ALS, which may explain the link between aluminum-containing vaccines and these diseases.





        Just How Much Aluminum Could Your Child be Exposed To?






        1. No vaccinations until your child is 2 years old.
        2. No vaccines that contain thimerosal (mercury).
        3. No live virus vaccines.

        a. Pertussis (acellular, not whole cell)
        b. Diphtheria
        c. Tetanus


      • James
      • NilesAkbar

        Old wives’ tale.

      • James

        Niles Ackbar,

        I’m sorry but I can read just like you. There is still Mercury in many of our vaccines, only in smaller amounts. The smaller amounts per dose are off set by the fact children and adults are being encouraged to vaccinate more often for more stuff. I.E. Cervical Cancer as an example.

        U.S.D.A. Headline Declares:

        Thimerosal in Vaccines

        See also “Mercury in Plasma-Derived Products”

        is a mercury containing organic compound (an organomercurial). Since
        threatening contamination with harmful microbes. Over the past several years,
        because of an increasing awareness of the theoretical potential for
        neurotoxicity of even low levels of organomercurials and because of the
        increased number of thimerosal containing vaccines that had been added to the
        infant immunization schedule, concerns about the use of thimerosal in vaccines
        vaccine manufacturers to reduce or eliminate thimerosal from vaccines.

        Thimerosal has been removed from or
        reduced to trace amounts in all vaccines routinely recommended
        for children 6 years of age and younger, with
        less of mercury per dose.

        The fact remains, there is still Mercury in vaccines. Less than yesteryear, of course! But now we use Aluminum instead. Which causes Alzheimer’s and other degenerative neurological disease.

        God Bless

        [Medicine is] a collection of uncertain prescriptions the results of which, taken collectively, are more fatal than useful to mankind.

        Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 – 1821)

    • Bruce Scheer

      In health care, informed consent means reading, evaluating, discussing the risks and benefits of accepting or choosing a procedure or treatment. If you do this regarding vaccinations, you will find out that this is controversial with risks and perhaps dubious benefits. Health care workers are people too. If they opt out of flu shots, they are making what they think is an intelligent decision. Perhaps one way more thought out, than the millions who roll up their sleeves and accept it as if to question it, was like questioning communion in the church. They do not put their patients at risks any more then anyone else going out in public. Fire a nurse or doctor who is a serial non-hand washer, not for choosing to make a decision about their health.

    • cupcakemuffin

      Yes, this should be required. Health care workers need to get all sorts of vaccines that are not required of the general public, not only the flu shots…not sure why only the flu shot has become so controversial! If you want a job that involves being in close contact to extremely vulnerable populations, then obviously you need to take steps to protect the patients…if you don’t want to, then clearly health care is not the job for you. Similarly, if I don’t want to get the TB test because I have some objection to it, I don’t get to work around kids.

    • kitkat

      Nurses and doctors should wear a mask regardless if they have had the shot during flu outbreaks and also gloves they are helping spread the virus and as far as getting the shot noone should be forced to do that even if the nurses got the shot they can still pass the virus from patient to patient

    • Fiona

      Yes, hospital workers should have to get flu shots (unless they have a documented allergy that medically prohibits them from doing so). Healthcare professionals see individuals with compromised immune systems due to age and disease and they need to protect against outbreaks in medical centers. A nurse or doctor who gets the flu may be sick for a week or two, but an elderly or immunocompromised patient will die. There’s no 100% prevention mechanism, but it’s the responsibility of medical providers to minimize harm. Other immunizations such as tetanus and hepatitis are job requirements; the flu shot falls into the same category. In fact, almost everyone should get a flu shot to protect themselves and the people around them.

    • Rns

      they get TB Tested etc. If you are in a treatment role- you need to make sure that you don’t become a carrier for others. Do no harm. They should get a flu shot or figure out a way to find a job that doesn’t involve patient contact.

    • James

      One of the first duties of the physician is to educate the masses not to take medicine.Sir William Osler (1849 – 1919), Aphorisms from his Bedside Teachings (1961) p. 105
      Formerly, when religion was strong and science weak, men mistook magic for medicine; now, when science is strong and religion weak, men mistake medicine for magic.Thomas Szasz, The Second Sin (1973) “Science and Scientism”
      The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.Voltaire (1694 – 1778)
      Orthodox medicine has not found an answer to your complaint. However, luckily for you, I happen to be a quack.Richter cartoon caption

    • Jennifer C.

      I disagree! It is up to the individual as to whether or not they agree with shots. Also, not all healthcare workers work around patients (for example, in the lab or in offices). Also, due to the number of flu strains that are out there, you are NOT guaranteed protection with a shot.

    • Alexandra

      For hospital workers, they should be required! Nurses are already required to go through thousands of blood tests and mountains of vaccines (well, in Quebec they are), why shouldn’t they be required to get a flu vaccine as well?

    • Vikky

      Yes, they should be required!
      1) for the same reason contruction workers wear helmets: to protect themselves.
      2) for the same reason cafeteria workers wear hair nets: to protect the public from their germs. (they work with patients with comprimised immune systems–they need more than a hair net!)
      If they don’t want to follow the safety regs, they can get another job!

    • Ivy W.

      They most definitely should not be required to get the flu shot. It should be a matter of choice…whether u want to or not….whatever happened to living in a FREE country where we the citizens could make up our OWN minds rather than the government making it up for us??!! We are “INDIVIDUALS” in case people have forgotten! So if you want the flu shot, go get it, if you don’t…well then don’t!!! Pretty simple

    • Lisa Davis Shields
    • Cherie

      This is America for Gods sake. I don’t think you should be able to make anyone take medications or vacinations against their will. I did not have the flu shot this year. I have had it the past three years and so far I have not gotten the flu. In the past even though I got the shot I caught the flu , so what is the point really. My aunt who got the flu shot, died of complications of the flu on Jan 9th. It didn’t save her. The way the media was pushing the flu shots with all thier scare tactics makes one wonder if there is a conspiracy of sorts to get everyone the shot.