Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Nurses are not created equal in giving flu shots

I get calls from clients and prospective clients asking for pricing on flu shots and health screenings for their employees.  I don't think I have been ever asked how good our nurses are.   Are they good at giving flu shots? I never hear that question.


The fact is that nurses are not created equal in their skill in administration of flu shots.  You would assume that giving shots is a very basic skill to a nurse.  This assumption is not a good one.  I would agree that a registered nurse should have the basic skill to give a flu shot or any shot for that matter.  The problem is that some nurses have never worked in a health care setting that either requires them to give shots or on a somewhat consistent basis.  The result is that some nurses are just not proficient in giving shots. Further, even if a nurse is good at giving shots they need to be organized to process participants.

All the above is something I try hard to relay to our clients because we want our nurses to be both proficient and efficient in giving flu shots and vaccinations to employees.    Again, not all nurses are equally good at giving flu shots.  I have some nurses who are able to do approximately 60 shots per hour and some that are just more comfortable around 35 to 40 shots an hour.  As a company, we expect our nurses to be able to administer 32 shots per hour.   

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

How to be successful in a corporate flu shot program

More than half of US corporations provide on site flu shots for their employees.   Most of these companies pay for the cost of the flu shots yet only about 30% participate in these voluntary flu shot programs.  Why? 


To increase participation, here are a few suggestions.

1.  Provide education on the benefits of flu shots.  Resources are available at www.vsamerica.com, www.healthfairsamerica.com and the CDC website.
2.  Implement online scheduling of appointments therefore making scheduling easy for the employees and the corporate planner for the program.  To view an appointment scheduling program specifically designed for employee flu shot and screening programs go to www.employeesignup.com.  
3.  Provide flu shots every year.
4.  Offer flu shots to spouses and dependents.
5.  Integrate the flu shot program into an overall health and wellness strategy.