Ruling: Nurses don’t need flu shots to keep jobs
Executive Briefings Digest, March 14, 2006
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Executive Briefings Digest!
A federal judge ruled that nurses at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle do not have to choose between refusing an influenza (flu) shot or keeping their jobs, even though most of them have chosen to receive the shots.
The judge decided in January that a labor arbitrator had the authority to rule that the hospital couldn't force its more than 600 nurses to receive the shots as a "fitness-for-duty" requirement, reported The Seattle Times. Virginia Mason had asked the court to vacate the arbitrator's ruling, arguing that he exceeded his authority and didn't properly interpret the Washington State Nurses Association contract.
The medical center and nurses have been locked in the dispute since September 2004, when the hospital announced the mandatory vaccination policy for all employees. The policy seeks to prevent possible transmission of the flu virus to vulnerable patients, according to The Times.
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations is currently looking into a potential new infection control standard that would require flu immunization programs for healthcare workers.
Source: Briefings on Hospital Safety
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Executive Briefings Digest!
Related Products
-
Medical Staff Briefing
This monthly resource acts as a support system by providing time-saving tools, expert advice, and analyses to help you...
-
Medical Staff Leader Connection
Subscribe to our weekly e-mail newsletter for medical staff leaders that provides them encouragement, tips, tools, and...
-
OPPE, FPPE, and Proctoring Solutions for Small and Critical Access Hospitals
This expert-developed, affordable program was created with your specific needs in mind. Our Greeley experts created tailored...
-
Advanced Practice Professional Solutions for Small and Critical Access Hospitals
This expert-developed, affordable program was created with your specific needs in mind. Our Greeley experts created tailored...
-
Low-Volume Providers Solutions for Small and Critical Access Hospitals
This expert-developed, affordable program was created with your specific needs in mind. Our Greeley experts created tailored...
Most Popular
- Articles
-
- Featured blog post: Nurses face felony charges after reporting physician to the Texas Medical Board
- Topic: CMS, OESS post new security compliance review information, checklist
- Q/A: Volume requirement for reporting hydration services
- HIPAA Q&A: Answering service messages
- News and briefs: Oklahoma Osteopathic Association against residency bill change
- What does case-mix index mean to you?
- QA:Coding multiple initial infusions
- OB services: Coding inside and outside of the package
- State medical board will hear unprofessional charges against OB-GYN
- The debate continues: Nurses who reported physician to the Texas Medical Board file federal appeal
- E-mailed
-
- Featured blog post: Nurses face felony charges after reporting physician to the Texas Medical Board
- Are your workforce members texting PHI?
- Don't let these sentinel events trigger falsely
- Arkansas woman convicted for HIPAA violation
- Q/A: Coding infusions to correct low potassium levels
- Q&A: Coding for protein malnutrition
- Q&A tackles coding questions about injections and infusions
- Joint Commission Center announces handoff communication solutions
- Inside best practice: Reduce patient falls with a stoplight
- Identify modifiable risk factors to prevent patient falls
- Searched