Does your hospital offer on-site childcare?

[Nurse Valium]

Good afternoon nurses! Quick question - does anyone work at a hospital that offers on-site childcare?? If yes, is it available 24hrs/day? Do they accept both sick & well children? Is it available to anyone that needs it or is there a waiting list? Is the cost nominal or competitive with other day cares in your area?

If not, would this incentive (if offered) affect your decision of where to work? Do you feel there would be less absenteeism in your facility if child care were available to the staff?

And lastly, if you do not have children of 'child care' age, would you support having on-site care offered at your facility? How do you think it would affect your facility?

Thank you - :kiss - in advance, for your input!!

[Altra, BSN, RN]

Yes, my hospital offers on-site child care, though only during standard day care hours (roughly 6a - 6p). The cost is very competitive when compared to other quality child care centers, and can be paid for with pre-tax dollars deducted from an employee's pay.

Those who use it (mostly administrative staff, since it suits their work hours best) speak highly of the service.

My child is older, but I applaud the facility's commitment to this and would support exploring the financial feasibility of extending the service hours to make it useful to more clinical staff. :)

[NYERNURSE]

Yup...opened M-F 8am-5pm. :stone

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

They're working on remodeling an old section to create on-site childcare right now. Supposedly the hours are supposed to be 6a-6p.

[tencat]

Jeez....I wish! None I know of here in New Mexico.

[WickedRedRN, BSN, RN]

GRRRR.... one would think, especially in a 24/7 setting that they would make the daycare available for all employees. *sigh*

[RN and Mommy]

I wish!

[RNKitty]

Ours offers 6:30-6:15. Since most of our units are 12 hour shifts, this doesn't help the nurses, aides, or housekeepers. It sure helps the administration, though, since they work conveniently within those time frames. Grr. Just one more reason to have a rift between Them and Us.

[Aneroo, LPN]

Yes. Unsure of hours. Price is about $130/week for an infant for a F employee. Price is cheaper during the summer.

It's on my list of things to do VERY soon (to check out daycare).

Our facility managed to snag a spot in the Working Mother Top 100 list again, I think mostly due to this facility.

[ShayRN]

Not onsite, but just down the street. They have a contract with a facility located on the local campus. We get a discounted rate. It is really 2 minutes past the hospital. We do have sick child care on our pediatric unit, you can bring your sick child for like 1.50 and hour or something. I am lucky, my mom lives 5 minutes from me and takes care of mine when they are sick, so I have never had to use it. But is sure is nice to know it is there if I need it.

[MayisontheWay]

Good afternoon nurses! Quick question - does anyone work at a hospital that offers on-site childcare?? If yes, is it available 24hrs/day? Do they accept both sick & well children? Is it available to anyone that needs it or is there a waiting list? Is the cost nominal or competitive with other day cares in your area?

My facility does not have this

If not, would this incentive (if offered) affect your decision of where to work? Do you feel there would be less absenteeism in your facility if child care were available to the staff?

Yes...if all other things were equal, I'd choose the facility with available child care. As for absenteeism, I don't know if this would make a difference unless there were a sick child care available also.

And lastly, if you do not have children of 'child care' age, would you support having on-site care offered at your facility? How do you think it would affect your facility?

My children are school-aged, so I would only need this in summer or for mild illness.

I'm answering in hope you work for my facility and you're doing a feasibility study!:)

May

[LeashRN]

The hospital at which I just accepted a position has on site child care from 0630 to 1930 M-F and if your child is sick they offer in home sick child care at low cost. It was voted one of the 50 best places to work by Women's magazine.

Alisha