All nurses should get a flu shot, American Nurses Association says
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Silver Spring, MD – The American Nurses Association is calling for all registered nurses to receive the seasonal flu vaccination and to encourage their patients to get vaccinated.
The vaccination rate for registered nurses during the 2014-15 flu season was 89 percent, slightly down from 90.5 percent during the 2013-14 season and up from 69.8 percent during the 2010-11 season, ANA stated, citing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
The association approved an immunization position statement in July that coincides with CDC guidance urging all individuals older than 5 months to get vaccinated each flu season. ANA’s position statement offers exceptions for medical and religious reasons.
The position also agrees with ANA’s Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements, which explains that registered nurses have an ethical duty to display “the same health maintenance and health promotion measures that they teach and research,” according to an Oct. 27 press release.