Childcare options/dealing with sick kids and attendance policies

Nursing Students General Students

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For anyone who has young kids, how do you have your childcare worked out? The clinicals tend to have extremely strict attendance policies but daycares (center and home based) also have extremely strict sick child policies.

A hospital near us has a "Barely sick" childcare center for its employees and students, because they'd rather have you at work than at home.

Usually those kind of options are not available and I don't expect them to be when I start school in a different city.

Have you run into problems? I have considered trying to find an in home provider, such as a nanny, but of course that could kill the budget. With 3 kids though, it might not be that different from paying for all of the daycare in a center.

I have honestly been reconsidering when I start back (1.5-3yrs from now) because 2 of my kids will still be preschool aged and prone to frequent illness.

What has been your experience?

I'm fortunate enough to have a wonderful support system. Luckily my parents, grandparents, sister-in-law/niece, or "church family" members are around to help (some for a slight "fee" :chuckle ) when something comes up with a sick kid/doctor's appointment. I don't know how I'd make it without them. :)

I know my reply wasn't helpful at all, but good luck in your search! :)

Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.

I'm just starting, but this has been one of my biggest concerns. My husband is willing to work with me as much as possible as far as trading off who stays home with kids. As far as lectures go - we can miss up to three weeks (which would equal six days of lecture), and the lectures are videotaped, so I have some flexibility there. Skills lab is one day a week, and there is not mandatory attendance for that. For clinical, we can miss two days. So I'm able to miss a few days of lecture here and there, and my husband knows that if the kids were to get sick on a Monday (which is my clinical day), then he would just have to stay home with them. Plus, my day ends at 1:00 PM at the latest (and half the time, it's 10:30 AM), so another option is for him to stay home in the AM and go into work as soon as I get home.

Specializes in OB, lactation.

That is a very good question.. I am just starting clinicals this semester and I'm just sort of praying the kids will only get sick on my days off!!! Hard prospect with three little kids!

I do have a sitter who doesn't mind sick ones coming over, but she's having a baby in November. My dh works shift work so sometimes he's at home when I'm at school. So like I said, I'm just hoping it will work out. We are really not allowed to miss clinicals, I think I'd be dropped from the class if I missed more than one clinical.

No support system, no relatives, no child care facilities, husband is often away on business. I'll just be giving them a Tylenol and packing them off to school. My cell-phone doesn't work in my college building, and we're not allowed to take cell phones into clinicals, so the school nurse will just have to deal with it, because I can't be contacted. Oh well, they'll grow up to be tough kids LOL!

Paint.

Specializes in CVICU.

I was going to move away with my son and I found a daycare that would care for sick kids. I also would look at nanny services for emergency nannies. Also, ask around Church...maybe there are some people there you can trust to help in a pinch.

Good Luck!

Specializes in Surgical.

yup... have a plan B... and C... and D :)

When I went to school I had virtually no support system. DH was frequently gone with work and we didn't really know anyone in the town we were living in. I found every resource I could from emergency "on call" baby sitters to the local "sick care" day care. (and dang that was expensive!)

I did wind up missing one day of clinical because I had been up all night with a feverish, wheezing, throwing up child. I completely slept through my alarm. The policy was - without exception - that it dropped you a letter grade. :( Lucky for me I had just about max points at that time. My nursing instructor was cool about it - but I still lost the grade.

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