Good things about working in a medical research facility other than free drug-company pens:

[rivka]

I came back from lunch this afternoon and met a research nurse in the copy room where I was checking my mailbox.

"Hi Jim," I said.

"Hi Rivka. Did you get your flu shot?"

"No, but I'd like one. Are you giving them out?" Then I noticed that he was carrying a small cooler.

"Yeah, I just got Lydia [my boss] five minutes ago. Let's go to your office."

So he followed me back to my office, where Lydia was holding a meeting with an immunologist, rolled up my sleeve, swabbed my arm with alcohol, told me to relax, and jabbed me almost painlessly with a needle. ("Little stick... now you'll feel some pressure... there you go.")

Then he gave me a consent form, asked me to sign the bottom and initial next to all of the caveats ("I am not allergic to eggs. RW. I do not have a fever or a respiratory illness. RW. I am not..."), and got my name and campus phone number for a raffle.

Total time taken out of my schedule: none, because I was able to listen in on the meeting while I was being injected and initialling things.

The same thing happened last year, but at the clinic where I collect research data. I asked a nurse "can I get a flu shot here?" and she said "yes, roll up your sleeve." That time I didn't get entered into a raffle for free stuff, though, so it was less satisfying.

Comments

[geminigirl]

I have also managed to collect a convenient Trizivir pill box, a cool Procrit mousepad, a speculum.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

That's nothing. I've got a Zyprexa level.

[jenett]

That is very cool, yep.

They're not doing ours until November 10th, but my process is only mildly more complicated (wander down to conference room, sign form, maybe wait for a person or two ahead of me, and get it done.)

(Joys of working in a school, in this case: it's in the school's interest not to have us out sick, and they're such a breeding ground for contagion.)

[rivka.livejournal.com]

(Joys of working in a school, in this case: it's in the school's interest not to have us out sick, and they're such a breeding ground for contagion.)

Believe me, the Institute doesn't particularly have my well-being at heart. If I got the flu, I could infect my immunocompromised patients and research subjects. That's why they care.

[geminigirl]

I find something both amusing and ironic about that. Zyprexa. Level. *snicker*

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

That time I didn't get entered into a raffle for free stuff, though, so it was less satisfying.

you want some free stuff? i can get you some free stuff. there's some old computers in my attic, you see...

[jenett]

Very true. (And in my case, in the school's interest not to have children with flu)

Not that I mind, much. I really should get it anyway, because flu + already bad lungs is not a good combination.

[fairoriana.livejournal.com]

You might consider contacting your local not-for-profit with those. Our church was *desperate* for a new computer. They were running Windows 3.1!!!!

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

you'll notice i carefully didn't say they worked. or that they had all their parts.

[geminigirl]

I still need to get one...my HMO gives them for free, which is fortunate, but it does mean I have to trek over there. But it's a combination of working with people who I know are immunocompromised, having asthma myself and working in places like detention centers which are breeding grounds for things like flu. It's bad enough the number of colds I manage to catch.

[therealjae.livejournal.com]

I'm so torn about flu shots. Some people I know swear by them, others (including minnaleigh!) are against them. I suppose it's sort of a good thing that the decision is more or less being made for me this year ...

-J

[fairoriana.livejournal.com]

Bah! Still probably better than Windows 3.1!

I suppose that telling you that it could be tax deductible would not be motivation for making one or two working Frankenstein boxes, eh?

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

I work for a university, same deal. Same reasons, too. It rocks. But we don't get put in raffles for free stuff.

[janetmiles.livejournal.com]

Mine will involve going over to the University Center, standing in line while completing a form, paying $18, standing in line while they review my form, getting the shot, and then waiting for 30 minutes so they know I'm not going to fall over dead before I can leave.

However, it's still way cheaper and easier than going to my doctor's office, and I like the risk/benefit ratio. (I work for the University, obviously, but in an admin office so I don't have a lot of contact with students. On the other hand, my husband works in a grocery store and has lots of contact with the public, including those who are too sick to go to work, but not so sick that they can't go shopping.) (In their partial defense, however, I will note that some of them come in to get their prescriptions filled and do some shopping while they're waiting.)

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

sneakily, they're all missing mostly the same parts. if we could build a working box out of the parts, we would have; we're geeky like that.

[fairoriana.livejournal.com]

Ya got me there. Shucks. ;-)

[anisoptera.livejournal.com]

Don't miss my ex but I do miss him bringing home flu shots for me.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Eh. For someone who is young and healthy and not generally in contact with sick people, there's no real reason for you to get one.