The Trenton Times published the following article on October 20, 2013. To read the article, click here.
Mercer County hospitals require employees to get flu shots
By Bridget Clerkin/The Times of Trenton
on October 20, 2013 at 6:30 AMThe signs proliferate around drugstores every fall, enticing passers-by: Flu shots today! No appointment needed! Insurance accepted! Every shot gets you a shopping coupon!
Local hospitals have been putting up signs advertising vaccinations for their employees, but the underlying message is much more direct: Get your flu shot, or risk losing your job.
As part of a growing national trend, the area’s four major hospitals are for the first time this year all requiring their clinical staffs to get vaccinations against the highly infectious disease. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Hamilton, University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro and Capital Health’s hospitals in Hopewell and Trenton made the shots mandatory, joining St. Francis Medical Center, which adopted the program in 2010.
RWJ’s chief nursing officer Lisa Breza said educating staffers about the benefits of the shot, and debunking myths — specifically, that the vaccine includes a live virus — proved very helpful in making the program a success.