Nanny refuses to get flu shot?

[Anonymous]

"why would i do that. it's none of your business. if she wants to post it on here she can. as nannies we have confidentiality agreements with the families we work for. some of us chose to uphold them and apparently some, such as yourself, don't. "

Well why should we believe that you are not making this up?

If you are a healthcare worker (nurse, technician with direct access to patients) working in a pediatrics or ob/gyn office office, I believe posters would want to know that their doctor was ignoring the CDC guidelines and exposing their infants or their pregnancies unnecessarily.

[Anonymous]

It's in our contract that our Nanny will get both the seasonal and H1N1 vaccines. We will reimburse her for any out-of-pocket expenses in getting these vaccines.

Once again, thanking God we hired a sensible Nanny who put the health and safety of our children as a priority.

[Anonymous]

how much will you pay if she gets a reaction?

[Anonymous]

This is really quite simple. If the nanny does not want to get the shot, that is her choice. She knows she is at risk for contracting the flu, but here's the thing, even if she gets the shot she still might get the flu. If she takes normal precautions there's good reason to believe she won't get it at all.

Also, if she gets sick with the flu, clearly she would not come to work sick, so you're fear's are really unfounded, unless you plan to make her work through any and all illnesses she has... but that is another issue.

The shot protects against 3 strains of the flu, and I hate to tell you, but there are many more than that in circulation. As a nanny of 2, the parents asked if I wanted to get it, I politely declined. I've never had the shot, and have never had the flu. I rarely get sick b/c I take normal precautions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is really quite simple. If the nanny does not want to get the shot, that is her choice. She knows she is at risk for contracting the flu, but here's the thing, even if she gets the shot she still might get the flu. If she takes normal precautions there's good reason to believe she won't get it at all.

Also, if she gets sick with the flu, clearly she would not come to work sick, so you're fear's are really unfounded, unless you plan to make her work through any and all illnesses she has... but that is another issue.

The shot protects against 3 strains of the flu, and I hate to tell you, but there are many more than that in circulation. As a nanny of 2, the parents asked if I wanted to get it, I politely declined. I've never had the shot, and have never had the flu. I rarely get sick b/c I take normal precautions.

Are you sure she wouldn't be contagious prior to showing symptoms? My understanding is that a person is contagious before showing symptoms - but I'm not a doctor so I could be wrong. Could you please cite us to some authority that indicates there is no risk of transmission as long as there are no flu symptoms?

[Anonymous]

Incubation time is usually 2 days, they are contagious day 2 after exposure, and up to 5-7 days after symptoms present. I just did a google search and looked at a few websites, here's one:

http://www.vaccineinformation.org/flu/qandadis.asp

And even if the nanny is on day 2 of exposure, if they do not sneeze on the child, and use normal sanitary precautions the chance of exposing the child is small.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Incubation time is usually 2 days, they are contagious day 2 after exposure, and up to 5-7 days after symptoms present. I just did a google search and looked at a few websites, here's one:

http://www.vaccineinformation.org/flu/qandadis.asp

And even if the nanny is on day 2 of exposure, if they do not sneeze on the child, and use normal sanitary precautions the chance of exposing the child is small.

According to the posted site, "A person is most likely to pass on the virus during the period beginning one to two days before the onset of symptoms and ending four to five days after the onset." If this is correct, then having nanny stay home if she has flu-like symptoms is not sufficient to avoid exposing her charges to the flu. Certainly, nannies (and everyone else) should be using normal sanitary precautions, but OP has to decide if she is comfortable relying on those precautions alone.

[Anonymous]

This is really quite simple. The employer can follow CDC and her doctor's advice to require her infant's childcare provider (nanny) to be vaccinated. The nanny can refuse but then she loses her job. The flu is serious for an infant.

How would you feel as a nanny if the infant under your care contracted the flu from you? How would you feel if your charge was hospitalized? Oh wait you would be clicking your heels with excitement over having a few extra paid days off while the mom was in the NICU with the baby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is really quite simple. The employer can follow CDC and her doctor's advice to require her infant's childcare provider (nanny) to be vaccinated. The nanny can refuse but then she loses her job. The flu is serious for an infant.

How would you feel as a nanny if the infant under your care contracted the flu from you? How would you feel if your charge was hospitalized? Oh wait you would be clicking your heels with excitement over having a few extra paid days off while the mom was in the NICU with the baby.

Oh please do tell, how would YOU feel if after the nanny got all shots, both she AND (your) baby got the flu? And BTW the last time my charge was in the hospital, *I* stayed with her, not either parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is really quite simple. The employer can follow CDC and her doctor's advice to require her infant's childcare provider (nanny) to be vaccinated. The nanny can refuse but then she loses her job. The flu is serious for an infant.

How would you feel as a nanny if the infant under your care contracted the flu from you? How would you feel if your charge was hospitalized? Oh wait you would be clicking your heels with excitement over having a few extra paid days off while the mom was in the NICU with the baby.

With so little respect for nannies I truly hope you don't have one.

No nanny would be happy for time off because a charge was sick, and frankly, for most of us it'd make no difference and would instead probably LENGTHEN our work days to stay extra time with the child because the parents can't or won't.

Over-dramatization anyone? The flu can be avoided without the flu shot. Flu shot if anything really only provides a false sense of security. Someone taking active measures to not get it won't regardless of flu shot status.

[Anonymous]

Like the CPR certification, parents are making shots a big deal when the truth is that they didn't get the shots themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My nanny has said she does not want to get a flu shot (I've offered to pay for it).

I've got a new baby who is susceptible to the flu until she gets all her shots based on CDC timeframes, and our pediatrician says that all caregivers for our daughter (including us) should have a flu shot to protect our child from getting sick.

What would you do? I've already spoken in detail to my nanny but it just seems she doesn't understand fully the importance (I've printed out a few things for her to read).

I don't think I am willing to risk my child's health at this point (easier for me to find a new nanny who is willing to get the shot than to risk my child's health).

Mom's-would this be a deal breaker for you? Would you find a new nanny or would you allow her to continue to work for you sans vaccine? Our nanny has only been working with us for a few months so I'm not opposed to a 'break up.'

I know i can't 'force' her to get a shot but I'm also not required to continue to employ her if she doesn't meet my requirements, right?

OP, as another employer, it is hard for me to say what I would do. It would make me very uncomfortable. If, as was the case with my first child, your newborn is a preemie with a high risk of RSV, I would replace the nanny. If not, I think it would depend on how I felt about the nanny overall. It might be a red flag for me, but it is hard to say for sure.

Every year we round up the whole family and get flu shots. Every nanny I have had has agreed to get it. We have had to let some go for other reasons, but never for refusing the shot. Once it was clear I was paying for it I never had an issue with someone refusing.

[Anonymous]

"GIVE MY DAUGHTER THE SHOT!!!!!"-Shirley Maclaine in Terms of Endearment. I don't know why but this thread just reminded me of that scene.

[Anonymous]

This is a no brainer get the shot if you watch an infant. If my nanny raised any of the ridiculous points brought forward by these nannies then I would seriously be concerned about her overall judgement.

[Anonymous]

I'll repeat what I posted before:

The parent that asks a nanny for immunization is doing the nanny a favor. Immunization is for one's own protection. If the nanny is vaccinated she still can carry the disease and pass it to the newborn not vaccinated. The same way parents will carry the disease home and not get sick if they're vaccinated too.

And the flu shot won't protect anybody from getting the virus. You still get the virus, you pass it but your symptoms will be milder.

If you want your child protected, keep it in a bubble.