Hospital Child Day Care

nurs4kids · Feb 9, 2002

Hey sue!

Our hospital started out with a "sick" care daycare and is slowly stretching it from there. In the beginning, employees were allowed a certain # of days per year for each child to use the daycare when the child was "sick". Funny thing was, according to the rules, the child wasn't allowed to come to daycare with most of your common childhood illnesses (fever, vomiting, etc). Sooooo, now it's evolved into an occassional daycare for our staff. It's only open from 6:30am-6:30pm, which really sucks for us because we work 7-7 shifts and this totally, as usual, leaves night shift shafted. The fee is $10/day. Our dayshift nurses use it pretty frequently, if it was available on nights, I would use it. We are hoping it will continue to evolve into a FT daycare. Ours is run and staffed by a daycare agency out of, I believe, Nashville that specializes in workplace daycares.

tracy

live4today, RN · Feb 9, 2002

Cape Fear Valley Medical Center in Fayetteville, NC has an onsite childcare center. I'm sure they would be happy to discuss their setup and how it's benefiting their employees, etc., if you call them. Just contact Information using their area code and get their number. Information for that city is: 1-910-555-1212. Hope this helps you out! :)

mario_ragucci · Feb 9, 2002

Thank you, mom and dad, for never leaving me at a "daycare", and thank you, older brother and sister, for helping mom and dad out when I couldn't be under their supervision.

It must be very rough on parents these days. If I had a kid, I don't know if I could drop them off like that. Especially in the 2-7 year range.

I love you very much mom and dad.

RNKitty · Feb 9, 2002

I've noticed that hospitals that arrange for childcare only seem to accomodate the daytime administrative schedule. (ie, if you work 7-7, 3-11, or nocs then you are SOL). Thank heavens my husband and I have always made it a commitment to have one parent in the house.

ktwlpn, LPN · Feb 10, 2002

Originally posted by mario_ragucci
Thank you, mom and dad, for never leaving me at a "daycare", and thank you, older brother and sister, for helping mom and dad out when I couldn't be under their supervision.
It must be very rough on parents these days. If I had a kid, I don't know if I could drop them off like that. Especially in the 2-7 year range.
I love you very much mom and dad.

It is not easy to leave your child in the care of a stranger-but we have to do what we have to do.As a working mother I don't need any more guilt piled on me-I have helped myself to plenty over the years.I believe that day care can be beneficial to a child's developement-My son would still not be cutting his own food if he had not been forced to be independent-I was prone to over compensate for the time I spent away from him and practically picked his nose for him.I have always wanted to be a nurse-I did manage to take a few years off when he was in kinder-g and first grade but I have always enjoyed working and feel that it makes me feel better about myself which benefits him in the long run.He was in a day care at my husband's place of employment-I never felt uncomfortable leaving him and he never once cried when I did.,A dependable trust-worthy daycare is a gift from God......After the Oklahoma City bombing my born again Christain,home schooling brother in law stated that "If the mothers of those children had been home where they belong they would not be burying them" Nice,huh?

live4today, RN · Feb 10, 2002

Hello ktwlpn,

I feel your pain. Motherhood is a tough and challenging career choice for any woman to make, especially when we don't know from one day to the next whether or not we are going to be able to protect our children around the clock by our own energy. Sometimes situations present themselves to where a mother has no other alternative but to rely on trusting licensed daycare providers with their little ones. Having three daughters of my own (who all have children), and either go to college or work full time, my heart goes out to them for having to be away from their little ones when they would rather be with them more often. If I ever win the lottery, or come into a lot of money some other way, I would pay them to stay home with their children. They haven't been as fortunate as I was to be able to stay at home with them during the majority of their growing up years. However, after an eighteen year marriage when their father flew the family nest suddenly and without warning, there I was a single mother for the first time in my life. I thank God that I had a nursing career to support my three children and myself, and that they were preteen and teenagers at the time of their father's "untimely departure". :rolleyes: ktwlpn, I'm sure you are doing the very best you can with your children, even with a husband around, times can still be rough on families today. I wish you well with your family and may you all continue to be as blessed as you are.

"It goes without saying that you should never have more children than you have car windows." -- ERMA BOMBECK :)

nurs4kids · Feb 10, 2002

Ktwlpn,

Don't sweat it, you're not alone. It's easy for a childless person to pass judgement on parents. Remember before you had children, we all had idealogical concepts on parenting; then comes reality. Mine are not in daycare because I have been fortunate enough to have a dependable family member keep them in my home. I still have to leave them to go to work though. Mario's post was way off base in my opinion. You're right, we feel enough guilt without someone who hasn't walked in our shoes passing judgement.

Chuckie · Feb 10, 2002

Our child care is totally catering to the physicians.

reyna · Feb 10, 2002

any extra help would be a blessing as long as one feels comfortable in the people they're leaving their child with...being close to them wouldn't be bad...if for any reason you need to be with the child, he'd only be a few walks away...one could even spend lunches together

OBNURSEHEATHER · Feb 10, 2002

Originally posted by mario_ragucci
If I had a kid, I don't know if I could drop them off like that.

I bet you'd never let them sit too close to the TV, eat hot dogs, or use a pacifier either. I bet your child, a perfect son, will come out of the birth canal smiling and giggling, and go to breast perfectly the first time. I bet your first night home he'll sleep through the night beautifully. He'll be potty trained by 1, reading and writing by 3, and will probably graduate at the top of his class.

Tell me, childless person, how it will be for you??

Don't worry, take all the time you need. I'll be sitting here with my pin waiting to burst your llittle bubble.

Heather

Furball · Feb 10, 2002

Originally posted by mario_ragucci
Thank you, mom and dad, for never leaving me at a "daycare", and thank you, older brother and sister, for helping mom and dad out when I couldn't be under their supervision.
It must be very rough on parents these days. If I had a kid, I don't know if I could drop them off like that. Especially in the 2-7 year range.
I love you very much mom and dad.

I too had a stay at home Mom that I love very much. >FLASH .....Yes, I left my son with caregivers usually part-time juggling schedules with hubby. (don't know how single parents survive!) We always chose places that put an emphasis on academics such as preschool. Today he is a very young 4th grader (JUST turned 9) with awesome grades and very well adjusted. At first he would pick up every sniffle, fever or GI bug at preschool but today he is very rarely sick....can't even recall when he last had a cold or fever. I like to think that his immune system was well broken in during daycare/preschool years. Life rarely turns out how you plan and people find themselves in tough situtions...you do what you have to do to survive. Case in point....my 48 year old neighbor died in her sleep last night, totally unexpected. I can picture her husband being forced to get a second job, he has children to care for and they were, like many people, living paycheck to paycheck even with 2 incomes. They drive old clunky vehicles and knew how to stretch a nickel. God bless him.......:stone

Mario...you're a very lucky man...I agree :)