No information, no volunteers
SUNY Downstate nurses insist on smallpox education

By DEBORAH A. MILES
When management at SUNY Downstate Medical Center urged PEF nurses to volunteer to receive the smallpox vaccination, the nurses did not just roll up their sleeves.

First, they wanted answers to questions concerning potential side effects of the vaccination on volunteers, patients and family members.

The union then asked the hospital to provide an informational class about the risks and benefits of the vaccine, but management denied the request.

“We had a problem with that,” said Jemma Marie-Hanson, council leader of Division 198 at Downstate. Marie-Hanson also recently won an election as Region 11 coordinator.

Marie-Hanson said the nurses want to be helpful in the hospital’s bioterrorism emergency-preparedness plan, but needed to arm themselves with information for their own protection.

“Management’s objection to initially educating our nurses on the risks and benefits of the vaccination became an issue,” Marie-Hanson said. “People need to know what they are signing-up for.

“We have a lot of young nurses. There are very few of us who can even remember what small pox looks like,” she said. “They needed to be educated before making a decision to volunteer.”

Beat them to the punch
Before management sent their notice requesting volunteers for the immunization, the union sent a notice to all the nurses telling them not to volunteer.

“Our notice said that management is requesting volunteers without any explanation of the vaccine,” Marie-Hanson said. “That is not a good way to start volunteerism.”

A month after the management notice went out, no one signed-up to volunteer. Finally, management agreed to provide informational sessions.

Making informed choices
Nurses working in individual units were able to attend the immunization information session and view a video, which helped them to make their own choice.

“We actually took the show on the road, so nurses in all units could be informed,” Marie-Hanson said.

Christine Eskenazi, a staff nurse who attended the workshop, said it was very informational

“The people were more than helpful in answering the questions to the best of their ability,” she said. Her main concern was if the vaccination would have any effect on a previous medical condition involving her eye. She decided to take the risk.

“It didn’t bother me at all,” she said.

Being a part of the plan
Marie-Hanson said fighting for the informational sessions was a sign to management that PEF is serious about being involved in the hospital’s bioterrorism preparedness plan.

“We bounce heads about this at every labor-management meeting,” she said. “Management doesn’t want union involvement. But our persistence paid-off.”

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