Bill Text: NJ A3920 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires health care facilities to offer influenza vaccination to their health care workers.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2011-12-15 - Received in the Senate without Reference, 2nd Reading [A3920 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2010-A3920-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman HERB CONAWAY, JR.
District 7 (Burlington and Camden)
Assemblyman JACK CONNERS
District 7 (Burlington and Camden)
Assemblyman RUBEN J. RAMOS, JR.
District 33 (Hudson)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman Wagner
SYNOPSIS
Requires health care facilities to offer influenza vaccination to their health care workers.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning influenza vaccination of certain health care workers and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. As used in this act:
"Health care facility" means a general or special hospital or nursing home licensed pursuant to P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.).
"Health care worker" means a person employed by a health care facility who provides direct patient care or otherwise has contact with patients.
b. Commencing with the 2011-2012 influenza season, each health care facility shall establish and implement an annual influenza vaccination program in accordance with the current recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and any rules and regulations adopted by the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services pursuant to this act.
c. For the purposes of its annual influenza vaccination program, each health care facility shall:
(1) annually offer to provide an on-site or off-site influenza vaccination to each of its health care workers; except that a health care worker may, in lieu of accepting the influenza vaccination offer, present acceptable proof of a current influenza vaccination from another vaccination source, or sign a written declination statement;
(2) maintain a record of influenza vaccinations for each health care worker, and retain each signed declination statement from a health care worker who elects not to receive an influenza vaccination;
(3) provide an educational component to its program that is designed to inform health care workers about: influenza vaccination; non-vaccine influenza control measures; and the symptoms, transmission, and potential impact of influenza; and
(4) annually conduct an evaluation of the program with the goal of improving the rate of vaccination among its health care workers.
d. A health care facility may suspend its annual offer of influenza vaccination pursuant to this act in the event of a shortage of influenza vaccine as determined by the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services.
2. The Commissioner of Health and Senior Services, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L. 1968, c. 410 (C.52:14B- 1 et seq.), shall adopt rules and regulations as necessary to implement the provisions of this act.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires health care facilities to annually offer influenza vaccination to their health care workers.
The bill provides specifically as follows:
· Commencing with the 2011-2012 influenza season, each health care facility is to establish and implement an annual influenza vaccination program in accordance with the current recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and any rules and regulations adopted by the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services pursuant to the bill.
· The bill defines:
-- "health care facility" to mean a general or special hospital or nursing home licensed pursuant to P.L. 1971, c. 136 (26:2H-1 et seq.); and
-- "health care worker" to mean a person employed by a health care facility who provides direct patient care or otherwise has contact with patients.
· For the purposes of its annual influenza vaccination program, each health care facility is to:
-- annually offer to provide an on-site or off-site influenza vaccination to each of its health care workers; except that a health care worker may, in lieu of accepting the influenza vaccination offer, present acceptable proof of a current influenza vaccination from another vaccination source, or sign a written declination statement;
-- maintain a record of influenza vaccinations for each health care worker, and retain each signed declination statement from a health care worker who elects not to receive an influenza vaccination;
-- provide an educational component to its program that is designed to inform health care workers about: influenza vaccination; non-vaccine influenza control measures; and the symptoms, transmission, and potential impact of influenza; and
-- annually conduct an evaluation of the program with the goal of improving the rate of vaccination among its health care workers.
· A health care facility may suspend its annual offer of influenza vaccination pursuant to the bill in the event of a shortage of influenza vaccine as determined by the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services.
Numerous studies, have demonstrated that health care worker influenza vaccination plays a crucial role in controlling the spread of influenza, especially among vulnerable patient populations in hospitals and nursing homes. A recent article in the journal, Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, argued that health care workers have a professional and ethical obligation to receive an influenza vaccination.
