Q: I recently heard a nurse say on TV that nurses were trained to receive several shots before they started to practice. My question is therefore the following: what are these compulsory vaccines? It’s still weird that some of them refuse the vaccine for COVID-19!
Ginette L.
A: Weird, this behavior? This is an understatement.
It’s downright inconsistent.
Nurses dedicate their lives to caring for patients based on science-based teachings.
And in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, some of them have chosen to put their patients at risk by going against what science is teaching us today.
Having said that, you are right, nurses need to be given several vaccines before they start to practice. This is the case for all health workers, trainees and their teachers.
There is also a whole series of recommendations on this subject, made by Quebec.
“No vaccine is mandatory, but it is strongly recommended to have the basic vaccination up to date according to the Quebec Immunization Program”, explained to us the president of the Association of Nursing Teachers of Colleges. from Quebec, Marlène Mc Nicoll.
Nurses are therefore not required to receive vaccines.
However, they are told that a refusal could have serious consequences.
“If a healthcare worker refuses recommended vaccines, the situation will need to be reviewed by the facility where they work. To this end, the establishment could take administrative measures according to each case of refusal, taking into account, in particular, the worker’s tasks and the possible risks for him and for the users ”, reads a document from the Ministry of Health. on this fundamental question.
It was added that this worker could even be assigned to a department or service other than his own.
Discover the recommendations
This means that even before the onset of COVID-19, various establishments were checked to see whether healthcare workers and trainees were immune to a whole host of diseases.
First against those targeted by basic immunization, that is to say diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, measles, rubella, mumps and chickenpox. Also, depending on the job held by the worker or the trainee’s discipline, other diseases such as influenza or hepatitis B.
“Upon hiring, the vaccination record is requested from all employees for information,” said Hélène Bergeron-Gamache, from the integrated university health and social services center of the West Island. Montreal.
“We have never had to apply administrative measures against nurses who would have refused vaccination against diseases targeted by basic immunization,” she said, stressing that such measures could indeed be taken.
Be aware, however, that even for these vaccines, the shortage forces establishments to a certain flexibility in the application of the rules.
This allowed nurses graduating abroad, who would not have all the required vaccines, to practice until they were fully immunized.
“They are committed to remedy the situation quickly and to send us the vaccine evidence,” said Mme Bergeron-Gamache.