Embedded deep within the
Hippocratic Oath is where you?ll find the ethical obligation to
safeguard patients from unintended illness or injury. For more than
2000 years, the practice of healing arts has been guided by this
moral compass.
Which makes it really mind
boggling to know half of all health care professionals today are
endangering themselves and their patients by avoiding the annual
shots of the flu vaccine.
During
last year's flu pandemic ? a global outbreak that resulted to more
than 12,000 deaths in the U.S. - a measly 37 percent of US health
care professionals had the additional H1N1 flu vaccine, according to
a new report.
For all practical
purposes none of these highly trained professionals would think of
going near a patient with unclean hands that could transmit
infectious agents. None would happily allow their patients to be
subjected involuntarily to tobacco smoke or other toxins that could
result to cancer or heart disease.
However, after 30 years of
undeniable proof that flu vaccines are safe and effective in
protecting patients, tens of thousands of health care professionals
refuse to get a shot each year. Despite intensive education campaigns
every year to get health care staff immunized in most hospitals and
large clinics, such voluntary efforts rarely achieve more than 70
percent coverage.
Studies have revealed that health care
professionals reject flu vaccines for the same reasons that other
people do. They give no credence about their risk of getting
infected, or their need for the vaccine. Some not sure how well it
really works, or is afraid of side effects it may bring.
In
all honesty, this is truly alarming. It is the health care providers
who should know better than this by now. And they should be better
role models for their patients and their communities in the coming
flu season by getting themselves in line for the new flu vaccine as
it hits the market in Kansas in the next few weeks.
It has
been confirmed that flu vaccination of health care professionals
lessens patient risk and saves lives. Health care staff members are
much less likely to transfer the flu virus to their elderly and other
high-risk patients (some of whom may either die from the disease), if
they take shots against influenza.
Also, an immunized
health care workforce has less absenteeism ? proven by a strong
evidence - during the annual winter peak in community flu cases. This
lets hospitals and clinics to enjoy more qualified staff on duty when
the demand for care is at its peak, and to keep down the cost of
care.
Everybody benefits
when doctors, nurses and other members of the clinical team do the
right thing and get themselves immunized against the flu.
For
that reason, it's high time for patients and other concerned Kansans
to remind the health care professionals in our lives a friendly
reminder about the importance of getting a shot of the flu vaccine
this year. Maybe with a patient's reminder, some reluctant healthcare
professionals' eyes will be opened and start to practice what they
preach.
This year's vaccine
supply will be ample enough for everyone. It will cover both the H1N1
strain and the common seasonal strains. According to the new national
guidelines, nearly everyone over six months of age is advised to get
the vaccine.
This is an all-important patient safety concern,
and there is simply no good excuse for a doctor, nurse, or other health
care professionals not to be immunized against the flu this year. It
is the obligation of every health care professionals ?to do no
harm."