Hospital Employees Get Flu Shot

Wilmington, Delaware
Thursday, September 10, 2009 @ 08:00 PM EDT
by: Wilmington News Journal, Hiran Ratnayake, September 10, 2009

One by one, nurses, doctors, housekeepers and janitors filed into Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children before sunrise Wednesday to test their colleagues' ability to react to an outbreak of swine flu.

Every employee who took part in the drill was screened for influenza by volunteer nurses who were positioned at four entrances not only to manage the flow, but to also encourage participants to get seasonal flu shots.

Employee health nurse Clare Thomas, who sat at one of 14 screening stations inside a gymnasium at the Rockland hospital, knew that a small number of participants had been told to fake flu symptoms to help other staff members get in the habit of noticing when colleagues are sick.

Pharmacy technician Shanda Coleman threw a wrench in the process when she admitted that she was "not feeling 100 percent."

"You mean you're not pretending?" Thomas asked.

"Yes," Coleman said.

Was this the first case of swine flu in Delaware this fall? Or was it a case of the more common seasonal flu?

Thomas began firing off questions about Coleman's health and pressed a temperature strip onto her forehead. It turned out she had a sore throat and sinus drip -- no swine or seasonal flu. Her temperature was normal.

But the scenario illustrates the kind of steps that hospital workers are being pushed to take as they gear up for the 2009 influenza season that is expected to bring both seasonal and swine flu and infect up to 300,000 people across the country.

"Our goal here is to protect our children as much as we possibly can by offering the seasonal flu vaccine to all of our associates," said Cathleen Rossi-McLaughlin, A.I. duPont hospital's senior director of nursing and chairwoman of its emergency management steering committee. "We're stressing the importance, especially this season, of getting your vaccination."

Inoculation rates

Hospitals nationwide are required to stage two drills each year and have emergency plans in place for catastrophic health events. Because of this year's concerns about swine flu, those drills have been modified to account for changes in the volume and severity of flu cases, according to the American Hospital Association.

One of the chief concerns is getting more health care workers vaccinated against seasonal flu and, should it spread, swine flu. To be fully immunized against both, most patients will have to get one shot of seasonal flu vaccine and two shots of 2009 H1N1 vaccine, which will be available by mid-October in Delaware.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that all health care workers get vaccinated each flu season, as they have been identified as one of the most vulnerable priority groups.

Yet a report released this year by the Delaware Division of Public Health found that one of every two health care workers in half of Delaware's critical care hospitals get the flu shot.

Nanticoke Memorial Hospital in Seaford, which completed a swine flu drill in May, has the highest health care worker vaccination rate, at nearly 74 percent. The hospital is working on an in-house campaign to boost that rate higher.

"We knew that by having the process in May, we were able to make definite plans on what would and would not work ..., " said Sharon Hamblin, Nanticoke's emergency manager.

Christiana Care brings together a multi-disciplinary team to regularly review the system's preparedness for the flu season. The combined vaccination rates at Christiana Care's two hospitals -- Christiana Hospital and Wilmington Hospital -- is 67 percent.

"We will strongly encourage staff to be vaccinated for both seasonal and H1N1 influenza," spokesman Spiros Mantzavinos said.

Workers at St. Francis Hospital in Wilmington, which has a vaccination rate of 56.2 percent, may be more attuned as swine flu approaches Delaware. The University of Maryland reported Tuesday that it has seen 172 cases of suspected swine flu among students since fall classes began.

"We could've given something a month ago to let people know about the flu and they may not have remembered it," said Dr. Jim Flowers, chairman of emergency services at St. Francis. "But as it's becoming more of a reality now, people will actually listen. Now they'll tend to pay more attention."

The duPont drill was deemed a success in terms of getting workers vaccinated, officials said.

Fewer than 5 percent of the 1,563 workers declined to get vaccinated Wednesday for seasonal flu.

"I think the drill is a great way to encourage everyone to get a vaccination, and more importantly, it makes people aware of what could be a problem," said Dr. William G. Mackenzie, chairman of duPont's Department of Orthopedic Surgery.

Most workers who were screened and vaccinated, parked in the garage behind the hospital and entered through a hallway next to the gymnasium and trickled into the hospital.

"I knew I was over-over-staffing," Rossi-McLaughlin said. "Our goal was to get 'em in, screen 'em, vaccinate 'em and get 'em out and I feel like that's what we've been able to do."

The only time the drill got busy was in the 30 minutes beginning at 7:30 a.m., as workers reported for their 8 a.m. shifts. They queued up outside the gym, clutching their screening questionnaires in one hand and coffee cups in the other.

The questions would start as soon as a worker sat down.

What are your symptoms? Are you allergic to eggs? Do you want the vaccine? Do you want the shot in your left arm or right arm? Would you like a lollipop or water along with your Band-Aid?

Thomas took about four minutes to screen and vaccinate each employee.

"What we've been stressing is that coming into work with the flu is not only a danger to your patients and co-workers but you also don't want to take it home and spread it to your families who can also miss extended time from work," she said.

Workers already are more vigilant because of fears of swine flu, added Kim Pierson, an occupational therapist.

"I even had someone come up to me and tell me that they think their wife is sick and wondered whether they should stay home, too," she said. "The awareness is higher than ever before."

modified: Wednesday, September 16, 2009 @ 02:29 PM EDT
created: Monday, September 14, 2009 @ 08:00 PM EDT

About Nemours

Nemours, one of the nation’s largest pediatric health systems, is dedicated to achieving higher standards in children’s health. Nemours offers an integrated spectrum of clinical treatment coupled with research, advocacy, and educational health and prevention services extending to all families in the communities it serves. Starting with Alfred I. duPont’s bequest over seventy years ago, Nemours has grown into a multi-dimensional organization offering personalized clinical and preventive care focused on children.

Nemours owns and operates the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware and major children’s specialty clinics in Delaware (Wilmington), Florida (Jacksonville, Orlando and Pensacola), Pennsylvania (Philadelphia and Bryn Mawr) and New Jersey (Atlantic City and Voorhees). Having recently received preliminary approval from the State of Florida, Nemours will establish a new full-service children’s hospital as part of an integrated pediatric health campus in Orlando. KidsHealth.org, the world’s most visited pediatric health care Web site for parents, kids and teens, is a project of Nemours.

Nemours employs over 4,400 individuals, including 430 pediatric physicians, specialists and surgeons who cared for approximately a quarter of a million children in 2007. The organization’s goal is to align with parents, physicians, community leaders, children’s advocates and elected officials to ensure optimal wellness for every child. Additional information about Nemours can be found at www.nemours.org.