What Travel Nurses Need to Know for the 2015-2016 Flu Season
Travel nurses play an important role in helping patients through flu season.
By Megan Murdock Krischke, contributor
As we turn the corner into flu season, it is important that travel nurses have accurate information to help protect their patients from an influenza infection.
Though it is impossible to predict exactly how the flu season will run its course, it typically lasts from October to May, peaking between December and February. Now is an ideal time for patients and health care professionals to obtain their vaccines so they are protected before significant outbreaks occur. Even after October, as long as the flu season is still in effect, it is worth it to get vaccinated.
“When it comes to the flu, the saying, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, holds true” remarked Mike Sparkman, RPh, pharmacist with the City Market grocery chain in Durango, Colo. “No matter your nursing specialty, you can help prevent disease in your patients and your community by recommending that patients receive the influenza vaccine. If your office doesn’t offer the vaccine, you can refer patients to a retail pharmacy.”
A retail pharmacist is one of the most accessible health care professionals because of the extended hours and ability to walk-in with no appointment in convenient locations, Sparkman noted.
The influenza vaccine is recommended for everyone over six months of age, except those with severe allergies to the vaccine or its ingredients. The vaccine can be administered via a nasal spray or a traditional injection.
Individuals need a flu shot annually because each year’s vaccine is specially formulated to combat the strains of influence that are expected to be most prevalent and because the effectiveness of the vaccine decreases over time.
Individuals who are not yet vaccinated or who will not be vaccinated are advised to take precautions such as regularly washing hands and avoiding people who are sick. If an individual comes down with the flu they can protect others by staying at home from work or school.
If someone does become infected with the flu, there are still measures that can be taken to lessen the severity of the illness. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), studies have shown that when flu symptoms are treated promptly with antiviral drugs that the risk of serious flu complications is decreased.
Antiviral drugs should be given to people at high risk for severe complications, persons under two years and over 65 years of age, pregnant woman and people with certain medical conditions, as well as anyone who requires hospitalization due to the flu. Antivirals can also be prescribed to those who are not at high risk at the discretion of the medical provider.
The CDC, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, and the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee recommend that all U.S. healthcare workers get vaccinated annually against influenza. Early and annual immunization is significant because health care workers are frequently in contact with vulnerable individuals and it is possible to spread the virus even if you don’t feel sick. Last year nurses had an impressive vaccination rate of over 90-percent.
“Flu vaccination among health care workers has been shown to reduce the risk of flu and absenteeism in vaccinated health care workers and to reduce the risk of respiratory illness and deaths in nursing home residents,” noted Mike Jhung, a medical officer in the CDC’s Influenza Division.
Health providers should be mindful of the need for not only health care workers, but non-clinical staff to be vaccinated. Workplace vaccination rates can be improved by offering education and promoting free on-site vaccination opportunities.
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