I work in a psychiatric prison hospital. When we opened, staff were encouraged to get the Hepatitis B vaccine. So, I did. This was an expensive vaccine, and after a while, we did not received that encouragement. We were also told we had to get a TB test every year, and were encouraged to do that during our birthday month, an easy way to remember. So, most years I did that. Until it became non-mandatory. And it was interesting how it became non-mandatory.
We had a very efficient and diligent communicable disease nurse who would set up in the lobby a few days a month to catch people and ask them if they were due for their TB test. She was told to stop this, because it was costing the agency too much money. Which sent the message that although we were told to get TB tests, there was an implicit expectation that people would not bother, at a cost saving to the agency.
Well TB has increased, and it is now politically correct for the agency to offer TB testing. To the point that it is now mandatory, and every employee is required to get a TB test during the month of February. Even if you had a test as recently as November or December. People who tested in January this year got a bye, but will be expected to get a test next February.
It will be interesting to me to see if next February TB testing is mandatory. Hmmmm.
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