On 12/1/2009 Dr. William Schaffner said:

Holiday Headaches: The holidays are here, and you know what that means: lots of family and friends, eating, gift giving and stress. According to the CDC, public vaccination rates drop off steeply after Thanksgiving because we are all focused on the holidays. Your staff may claim they are too busy to get a seasonal flu vaccination, but this month, it’s more important than ever to encourage them to receive the vaccination to help avoid missed days from work and avoid transmitting the flu to their patients. In my November post, I talked about seasonal flu vaccination as a patient safety issue. This month, I encourage you to inform your staff not to let the seasonal flu take away time that could be spent with family and friends. In addition, December 6-12 is National Influenza Vaccination Week. This week was designated by the CDC to highlight the importance of continuing flu vaccination, as well as foster greater use of flu vaccine through the month of December and beyond. Take advantage of the holidays and National Influenza Vaccination Week as a time to think of creative programs you can do with your staff to get them vaccinated. Have you come up with any fun holiday ideas? Please feel free to share your ideas and questions with your fellow Challengers below. Happy Holidays! (Joint Commission Resources received funding and other support from GlaxoSmithKline for the Flu Vaccination Challenge initiative.)

On 11/2/2009 Dr. William Schaffner said:

It’s All About Patient Safety I hope you all participated in the October teleconference and you found Patsy’s experience helpful as you continue to vaccinate your staff. Her program was certainly inspiring for me. If you haven’t done so already, check out the FluVaxTrax™ software on this site. It can help you measure your progress throughout the course of the Challenge. I hope you all have downloaded FluVaxTrax™. If not, you can find it under the Resources tab on this Web site. Whether you were part of the Challenge last year or not, I’m sure you encountered a number of employees who declined to get vaccinated against seasonal flu. Following are the myths I’ve heard over the years as to why employees don’t get vaccinated: • They may think they are not at risk for getting the flu because they are healthy, and as someone who works in a health care environment, they’ve been exposed to so many germs that they are immune to everything. • They don’t have any flu symptoms so they can’t transmit the flu virus to their patients. • They work in a large facility and there are many staff members who get vaccinated against the flu, so they think one flu vaccination won’t make a difference. • They think the flu shot isn’t safe or believe it doesn’t work. • They think they only have a small window of time to get the vaccination in the fall. • Getting the vaccination is an inconvenience. It’s important for health care workers to get vaccinated to help them stay healthy and keep the facility fully staffed during flu season. Moreover, getting the flu vaccination can help protect patients from getting the flu. If patients have an underlying medical condition and get the virus, it can put them at serious risk. Remind your staff that the above concerns are myths, and emphasize that they may be putting their patients at risk by not getting vaccinated. When I talk about staff, I don’t just mean doctors and nurses. The Joint Commission defines health care workers as all people who provide care, treatment and services within health care organizations. This includes anyone from physicians to cafeteria workers. How do you plan to remind your staff that not getting vaccinated is a patient safety issue? What kind of programs can you put in place to encourage all employees to get vaccinated? Joint Commission Resources received funding and other support from GlaxoSmithKline for the Flu Vaccination Challenge initiative.

On 10/13/2009 Brandi Swinson said:

It will be hard to achieve even bronze level at our facility because we do not have enough regular flu vaccines. I don't understand why there is such a shortage of regular flu vaccines. Our facility tried to order more and were told there are not anymore available.

On 9/30/2009 Thomas Spiller said:

Well...we did it. Our flu vaccination is now mandatory. For those individuals who cannot or will not be vaccinated, they must wear a mask at all times while in a patient care area during flu season. We had an 84% vaccination rate last year and I fully expect about 99% compliance for this year.

On 9/24/2009 Marsha Dyer said:

Are there any leagal ramifications if flu vaccine is mandated or if staff that refuse the injection are required to wear mask when on duty?

On 8/27/2009 Thomas Spiller said:

In order to "sell" the H1N1 vaccine to our hospital staff in Tennessee, the Infection Preventionist and I (Occupational Health Nurse) became part of the H1N1 Vaccine study at Vanderbilt. We have received the 1st dose and will receive the 2nd on September 3rd. Neither one of us had any problems with it. However, on the other hand, we have treated H1N1 virus in the ED all summer long.

On 7/30/2009 anonymous said:

safety of swine flu vaccine- we are going to be asked to push this out- but does anyone know if this os ok

On 5/8/2009 Carol Reese said:

we do not add volunteers in our count

On 3/13/2009 Marylou said:

We had a very successful flu year. We used many of the methods listed before, drive through, onsite at off sites, clinics at various sites on various shifts, challenges and raffles. We broke 61%. We found that what seemed to work the best was walking the floors and administrering on the spot. We will do more of that next year. Another marketing tool we are going to use is that the annual flu shot will be used as a diagnostic tool to rule out flu strains should we be faced with pandemic flu. This will be very helpful according to one of our pulmonologist.

On 3/11/2009 Robin H. Salley said:

We also use the declination form. We have 100% compliance with documentation, and 65% vaccination rate of our employees, LIPs, contract staff, volunteers, and students. We offer a drawing to staff members who receive the vaccination at work for dinner and movie for two. We hold the drawing with those who are vaccinated within a specified time frame, however, we offer the vaccination free to any employee, contract, LIP, volunteer or student who request one. We set up designated stations during the drawing time frame during various shifts to make receiving the vaccination convenient to staff members. Any licensed nurse can administer the vacinnation, but we try to limit those nurses to supervisors, nurse manager, or IP.

On 2/6/2009 Rhyanna Larose said:

Our 2008-2009 Influenza Vaccination Project was so successful this year we vaccinated 71% of staff which is nearly double last year. This year we also included our out reach clinics and out patient practices into our total. Creative things we did to gain vaccination rates & why were we successful.

1. Set up rounding carts on all 3 major/various shifts. Even came in during the middle of the night & on weekends to each unit.
2. “Say Boo to the Flu” campaign. Posters, dressed up for Halloween, decorated a Halloween cart with candy for getting the flu shot. Rounded most of the day with this cart. Went to administration and major nursing units including the ED & FCC.
3. Posters “Do no harm… stick out your arm”, “get a flu shot today”
4. Posted flu clinics w/ times & dates to the Employee Health/portal intranet page. Updated it daily.
5. 3 RNs went to benefits fair to vaccinate employees & help educate about flu shot & flu itself.
6. Sent out “appealing” weekly updates of vaccination rates, info and compliance rates. Calculated the percentage vaccinated, which also included sending to all managers, VPs and the CEO.
7. Electronic scrolling board in Cafeteria was updated frequently with the new vaccination rates.
8. Brought vaccination program information to Monday Management meetings, Infection control meetings, Safety Committee etc.
9. Posted Myths & Facts and lots of articles & info on seasonal influenza to the EHS webpage/intranet.
10. Held in-services on myths/facts of flu vaccine through gorgeous ppt presentation and encouraged everyone that waved the vaccine to attend.
11. Followed up with wavers and answered questions & educated staff trying to encourage persuasion to take.
12. Obtained Thimerosol free vaccines from pharmacy, specially ordered, to F/U w/anyone stating they had thimerosol allergies.
13. Brought flu vaccine to all the mandatory blood borne pathogen training sessions and in-services that occurred after Oct.
14. Made it as convenient as possible to receive vaccine by going to units, rounding carts, education, available to all shifts, evenings, nights, weekends. Allowing walk-ins to the clinic in EHS, updating managers, several posters, in employee grand rounds newsletter. Vaccine paperwork was posted on the portal and could be started before getting the shot.
15. Allowed out-reach clinics & out-patient clinics to come and grab a vial (signed out w/paperwork) of the vaccine in order to administer it to their depts.
16. Posted the weekly CDC tracking of seasonal influenza report in the employee health show case and in the clinic.

On 1/30/2009 Kelly Shipely said:

We vaccinated 68% of all our employees, physicians and volunteers. We include our total employee number not just our direct patient care. We offered flu clinics as well as provided flu shots for our direct patient care during their annual skills fair. We found that if we come to them, it works better.

On 1/13/2009 Carol Stump said:

In calculating your percentage do you also count your volunteer population in with your employees?

On 1/6/2009 Kim Roberts said:

We increased our flu vaccine rates by offering flu shots during our annual TB skin testing. People took advantage of this one-stop-shop. Since the skin test is mandatory we were able to reach all hospital employees and offer them the flu shot. We had them sign a form for consent or declination of the flu vaccine. I think it helps to have a declination form, so that it's a more formal decision NOT to receive the vaccine, plus it gives us an idea why people are not taking the shot (usually fear of needles or think the shot will make them sick).

On 1/6/2009 Maureen McLaughlin said:

We have 2700 employees and are around 65% with the vaccination rate. A large majority of those that decline are health care workers. It has been difficult to change the "mind " of an employee that declines. We are looking for ways to educate in a positive manner and using the assistance of the physicians that work on their floors to help.

On 12/26/2008 Octavia said:

Our vaccination rate is 74% and we count all employees, not just those in patient care. We stopped telling employees they cannot get sick from the flu shot because some employees do have a reaction. We tell them the flu shot does not prevent you from getting sick it keeps you from dying from the flu"

On 12/18/2008 Marylou said:

Please explain what a POD drill is.

On 12/15/2008 Phey Kabigting said:

Our compliance rate is at 99.2%. Our vaccination rate is 72%. We have been utilizing the declination form for the past 2 years now and our staff are aware that they really have to sign and state the reason why they don't want to receive the flu shot. Our department directors were delegated to ensure that each of their staff addresses options on the flu shot. We also use some flu facts on our screen saver. Aside from the 2 POD drills that we had, we also utilized the push cart. Personal phone calls were made to get 100% of our employees.

On 12/15/2008 phey g. kabigting said:

Ou vaccination rate is currently at 71.4% We used the POD drill twice, Oct. 3 and Nov. 14.

On 12/9/2008 Thomas Spiller said:

Our hospital had a 69% vaccination rate last season and are currently at 82% this year with a substantial amount of "advertising". We are moving towards a mandatory requirement for next year. Is this a common goal among most hospitals around the country?

On 12/5/2008 Gail Kuhn said:

I use all hospital employees to determine my flu vaccine rate. Flu vaccines are not mandatory in our facility but all employees must fill out a consent to receive the vaccine or a declination form. We have several that are allergic to thimersol & eggs. Any suggestions? We did purchase a viseo this year to help dispell the myths about getting the flu after the vaccine. We have an 81% vaccination rate.

On 12/4/2008 Peggie Reinhardt said:

I am just curious, when figuring vaccination rates does everyone count the total number of employees or just those in patient care areas.

On 12/2/2008 Myrna Kamper said:

I would like feedback regarding resistance from health care workers getting their flu shots. In spite of several years of major education campaigns, I constantly hear from staff that they have gotten sick after the flu shot and will refuse one next year. Symptoms I have heard range from N/V, diarrhea, to a cold, stuffy nose, congestion, fever, sinus problems, and "I just felt awful". I gently explain once again that flu shots do not contain live viruses and therefore cannot cause disease. I am aware that some individuals do have unpleasant reactions to flu shots and I acknowledge that. One department believed that N/V and diarrhea spread throughout their unit from one person getting the flu shot...and these are health care personnel! I am constantly amazed at their lack of knowledge and willingness to learn. This year we attempted to educate staff through brochures, mass emails, posters, and roving carts to departments. In spite of that, I feel we are losing ground instead of gaining. Our hospital's flu shot rate last year was 64%. I believe we are surpassing that by a little this year. We will mostly likely move to mandatory declinations for next years flu shots. Any insights would be welcome. Thanks, Myrna

On 11/26/2008 Dixie Kramer said:

Currently my place of work(Waverly Health Center) has again reached the 95 % mark and will try to maintain that through March or April. Our CEO requested decliners come to him to sign the form. He saw first hand that it was not medical reasons or religious reasons for declining and mentioned "mandatory" for next year. The Iowa Healthcare Collaborative will hopefully give us some insight into the legal ramifications.They will have more info in March 2009. Two area hospitals already have gone mandatory -1 reaching 100% and the other 94%. According to those hospitals it initially met much resistance because of the "personal choice" and "what if regarding reactions" . But it really is a patient safety issue and WHC will most likely make it a condition of employment to take the vaccine.

On 11/26/2008 Marsha Studer said:

We explored this and since the experience with an unfair labor practices for making vaccination mandatory, we have chosen to negotiate with our unions and have found they will support mandatory declaration, not vaccination.

On 11/25/2008 Kim Twisdale said:

In visiting the virtual posters, I see that many facilities make the flu vaccine mandatory. Are there any legal ramifications of doing that? Did you check with your hospital attorney, HR, who? I would love to make it mandatory for our staff!