Can a North Carolina hospital require its nurses, doctors, and other staff who work around pregnant women to show that they're immune to rubella, or be tested for it, or get the vaccine?
Apply this to your situation
This page answers the general question as of 1984. Ask about yours and see what current North Carolina law means for your facts, with citations you can check.
Plain-English summary
The North Carolina Attorney General concluded that a hospital, clinic, or other medical facility may make rubella immunity a reasonable condition of employment for personnel who come into contact with pregnant women. The facility may require documentation of immunity or testing for susceptibility followed by immunization if the worker is susceptible.
The opinion also allows the same requirement for personnel who come into contact with female patients of childbearing age if the facility's medical director deems it necessary in their professional judgment.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 1984. Check current law and public health requirements before using it to set a present-day employment policy.
Common questions
Does the opinion require immunizing every employee?
No. It allows a facility to ask covered personnel for documentation of rubella immunity. If they do not document immunity, the facility may require testing and immunization if they are susceptible.
Which personnel does the conclusion cover?
It covers personnel who come into contact with pregnant women. It also covers personnel who come into contact with female patients of childbearing age if the medical director deems that broader requirement necessary in their professional judgment.
What does the opinion say about an employee who refuses testing or immunization?
It calls the requirement a reasonable condition of employment but does not address refusal, reassignment, discipline, or dismissal.
Does it address other vaccines or employment accommodations?
No. The conclusion concerns rubella immunity. The stored opinion text does not discuss other vaccines or exemptions.
Source
Original opinion text
Subject:
Requested By: J. N. MacCormack, M.D., Chief, Epidemiology Section, Division of Health Services
Conclusion: A hospital, clinic or other medical facility, as a reasonable condition of employment, may (1) require all personnel who come in contact with pregnant women to provide documentation of immunity to rubella or to be tested for susceptibility for rubella and to be immunized if susceptible and (2), if deemed necessary in the professional judgment of the medical director of the facility, require all personnel who come in contact with female patients of childbearing age to provide documentation of immunity to rubella or to be tested for susceptibility for rubella and to be immunized if susceptible.
(at 645) The Court cited North Carolina cases concerning the duty to make a reasonable inspection of equipment, to provide equipment reasonably suited for the intended use, to not obey instructions of a physician which are obviously negligent or dangerous, to promulgate adequate safety rules relating to the handling, storage and administering of medications, and to . . .
RUFUS L. EDMISTEN
Attorney General
Robert R. Reilly
Assistant Attorney General
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