Why I've had my flu jab - Nichola Sanderson, Deputy Director of Nursing

Nichola explains her reasons for having the flu jab and encourages others to do the same.

Hello, my name is Nichola Sanderson, and I’m the Trust’s Deputy Director of Nursing. I’m pictured to the right giving a flu jab to our Chief Executive, Sara Munro.

Every year we offer our staff the opportunity to have a flu jab, to make sure that we all have the best possible chance of staying well over the winter months.

This year is no different, and we’re now into the second week of our annual campaign.

I’m leading the campaign and I’m proud to do so, as it’s something I feel particularly passionate about. Yes, we are set targets and asked to vaccinate a certain number of staff, and yes of course we want to hit those targets, but for me this is about so much more.

Four years ago my partner experienced kidney failure as a result of kidney disease, and I donated my right kidney. It was a challenging time, and he remains vulnerable to bugs and viruses. So needless to say, I’ve had my flu jab.

But he’s not the only one who’s vulnerable to the flu. We know that the flu jab is the best defence we have against flu and the vaccination is designed to protect you, your family, and your service users, including the most vulnerable. It’s vital to have the jab each year if you want continued protection.

The advice for this year is to ‘brace’ for a particularly pressurised flu season. The warning comes after a heavy flu season in Australia and New Zealand – you may have seen the comment on Facebook from one of our former colleagues mentioning how bad the flu season has been where she is in Brisbane. While it’s too early to predict the impact of this here, I wouldn’t want to take any chances.

Back to our campaign, and in the first week around 12 per cent of our frontline staff received their vaccination – that’s in the region of 150 people. I’d like to say a personal “thank you” to each and every one of you for prioritising getting the jab this year.

As well as leading the campaign and having my own reasons for getting the jab, I’m also a peer-to-peer vaccinator, along with around 70 others across the Trust. I’ve been really pleased with the number of people who’ve already asked me for a vaccination, and even more pleased that they’ve all reported little or no side effects compared to previous years.

Finally, I’d like to take this opportunity to urge you all to have your flu jab, if you are able to. It really is the best defence we have against this horrible virus. It would also be great to hear your reasons for having the flu jab, if you’re happy to share them. Tweet us @LeedsandYorkPFT.

Thank you again,

Nichola Sanderson, Deputy Director of Nursing