Scenario: Influenza

Open this Microsoft Word document.  Save it.  Use it to record your responses to questions 1-9.  (See scenario and questions below.) Save often and save one last time before going back to Blackboard to submit the attachment, which is your submission for the FYS Common Exam.

FYS Exam for Students Answer Template

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In this scenario, you have recently been hired as the “Team Wellness” manager for a local hospital named Greenville State Hospital. As Team Wellness manager, you are responsible for creating initiatives that will help keep the hospital’s employees healthy so that they can provide the highest level of care to patients.

One such initiative that you’ve been asked to explore is a program that would mandate influenza “flu” vaccinations for all hospital employees.  Currently, the hospital provides flu shots to any employee who desires one, but the goal is to increase the number of those who participate. The reasoning for this initiative includes:

nurse administering shot

  • It is recommended that all Health Care Providers receive the influenza vaccine.
  • During recent flu seasons, influenza activity has remained elevated in the United States (reaching epidemic levels, with a high mortality rate). It is believed that this upcoming flu season may be similar to or worse than last year’s level.
  • Some hospitals reported employee deaths due to flu complications.
  • Employees who test positive for the flu or have flu-like symptoms are more likely to be a health hazard to patients.
  • Employees who have the flu or symptoms from the flu are more likely to miss work.

Knowing your decision will affect employee morale and employee health, as well as the fact that you have limited time to make your decision, use the documents provided to make a policy on whether or not to mandate the flu vaccine for all hospital employees. Write your recommendation in the form of a memo to the Board of Directors of Greenville State Hospital.  Be sure to include a specific rationale for the recommendation by referencing the most credible and relevant information from the document library to underscore that your reasoning is backed up by evidence.

What is a memo? 

Purdue Owl provides explanations and examples:

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/professional_technical_writing/memos/index.html

 

PART A

Document List:

Document 1) Caplan, A. (2011, July). Time to mandate influenza vaccination in health-care workers. The Lancet, 378(9788), p. 310-311. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2811%2961156-2/fulltext

Document 2) “Influenza and Influenza Vaccines”, 6 Oct. 2017. Web. 25 July 2018, https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e856/4ee6c31327117d59720797f4a8580de18201.pdf

Document 3)  Khunti, K., Kamal, A., Pareerk, M., & Griffiths, A. (2021). Should vaccination for healthcare workers be mandatory?: Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 114(5), 235-236. https://www.marshall.edu/fys/files/Doc-3_Should-Vaccination-for-Healthcare-Workers-be-Mandatory.pdf

 

Document 4) Gale, Jason. “How Effective Is the 2018 Flu Shot? Here’s What You Should Know.” Time. Time Magazine, 17 Feb. 2018. Web. 25 July 2018, http://time.com/5138100/how-effective-is-the-2018-flu-shot/

Document 5)  Evans, G. (2019). Hospital fined $74k in flu shot religious exemption case. Hospital Infection Control and Prevents, 46(11). https://www.reliasmedia.com/articles/145231-hospital-fined-74k-in-flu-shot-religious-exemption-case

Document 6) Cohen, Jon. “Why Is the Flu Vaccine so Mediocre?” Science, vol. 357, no. 6357, 2017, pp. 1222–1223, https://science-sciencemag-org.marshall.idm.oclc.org/content/357/6357/1222 (You likely will be prompted to log in using your Marshall username and password to access this article via a database) If you are unable to connect, use this PDF backup: Why is the flu vaccine so mediocre

Document 7)  OSHA (n.d.). Employer guidance: Reducing healthcare workers’ exposures to seasonal flu virus. United States Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration. https://www.osha.gov/seasonal-flu/healthcare-employers

 

Part B:  Go back to the Microsoft Word document and explain what other information would have helped you understand the topic better and how you might find that information.

 

Part C: Reread the scenario above. Make sure you understand what you are being asked to do and the format specified in the directions (a memo). Go back to the Microsoft Word document and complete this portion before saving one last time and submitting the Microsoft Word document to the FYS Common Exam Blackboard Assignment.

 

 

Contact

April Fugett, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Center for Teaching and Learning
fugett5@marshall.edu
109 Old Main
304-696-5268

Jennifer Morgan
Office Administrator
jennifer.morgan@marshall.edu
109 Old Main
304-696-2206