Taking Kids to the Job is it OK?

jschut, BSN, RN · Jul 26, 2004

My daughter used to go with me in the summers when school was out. We did have permission from the administration tho. She helped the activities director some and just enjoyed visiting with the residents. They enjoyed her too. I still have some papers that she wrote and had one of the residents sign where she adopted them. I can't remember how old she was, probably pre teens. At the time she said she was going to be an activities director but in reality she became an RN and is administrator in a home aide facility. At the time I worried about her "bothering" people but I think it was actually good for her and for them too. I know this isn't exactly what ya'll are talking about but it's another side to the story.

I agree with what you say. My 18 y/o daughter used to come to work with me ona locked down Alzheimers unit. She was always involved with them...games, ball, playing...the staff pulled a piano in from the dining room one day so she could play Christmas music for the res and their families. Things were calm when she was there. Something about a child.....(and this was when she was 9-10 yrs old. Now she's 18 and in Basic Training!)

At the other nursing facility I worked in (a small 120 bed facility) I would take 1 of my children with me. (They took turns. One is 9, the other 11~sometimes my 15 year old son liked to go.)

They were very well behaved, knew not to touch anything, talked with the res, colored and played with the res. They would also make sure each res had fresh ice in their pitcher. (They knew which rooms they were allowed to knock on doors to go in and visit and which not to.)

Now, while I am not "tooting my own horn", I believe that a well behaved child is a pleasure to be around, and that includes even in a nursing facility. During supper times, my child/ren would go into the TV room and sit and watch TV until res were finished and the child/ren were permitted to come out and resume whatever activity they were doing with their "res of choice". (Yes, they had "adopted" grandparents too!)

During the busy times when the res were being assisted with personal care or it was time to get ready for bed, my child/ren would come and sit at the desk and play with their Gameboy. LeapPad or whatever other form of entertainment they had brought. The only time I ever had difficulty with my children was when 2 wanted to come at once...they wanted to get a little loud and I had to keep reminding them.

On the other hand, I have seen (and been around) those obnoxious children I'm sure this thread is referring to. The ones who try to stick their fingers into the sharps containers, the ones who jump on the desk and throw little balls against walls, and the ones who run up and down hallways.

No. Those little monsters should never be allowed in nursing facilties (and certainly never anywhere near me!!!) The ex ADON of the facility I'm referring to has one of those children. An 8 y/o boy that one wonders if he's going to make it to 9..... :uhoh3:

veteranRN · Jul 26, 2004

I'm sorry but I firmly disagree with bringing young kids to work in a clinical setting. I was a single parent for many years with very young kids so I know how difficult it is. But the patients deserve our UNDIVIDED attention, not to mention privacy. I also think administration needs to step up and if staffing is that much of a problem come up with alternatives such as a sick child program. I don't know about you but caring for 20-30 residents in a LTC is more than enough, I can't care for a child too.

donmomofnine · Jul 26, 2004

Julie, I understand what you are saying about the children being beneficial to the residents! I did those things with my children as well, however, I did them when I was off duty. The children and residents reaped all the positive benefits, and the employer had none of the headaches! :)

I feel it is never appropriate for employees to have their children with them at work for many reasons.

jschut, BSN, RN · Jul 26, 2004

My employer never, not once said anything about my child being there.

Of course, that was quite probably the ONLY good thing she ever did for the facility, but that's another story! :rolleyes:

smk1, LPN · Jul 26, 2004

i would say it is not the best idea (especially young kids) but if it is allowed and it is an emergency then you work with the situation you have. i would be concerned if it is a situation where the kids are sick (fever/ contagious etc..) and you bring them and they are in the common areas with the residents or patients. This would be a problem. If there is a conference room where they can stay, and they don't require a lot of your attention then i say it is ok for an emergency situation. When I worked in the school nurses office and we had to send kids who became sick home, i always was impressed with the parents whose employer allowed them to bring the kid to work if the need arose. Helped us out tremendously, the kid got to be near mom or dad, the parent didn't have to lose wages by leaving work and the employer stayed fully staffed. While this is not by any means ideal, if an emergency comes up it is nice to have an understanding employer that will allow this. By the way does anyone else laugh at the tv show ER where nurse Sam always has her kid in the ER just running around getting into stuff? You know that wouldn't be allowed!

CseMgr1, ASN, RN · Jul 26, 2004

Absolutely not. When my son was little and got sick, I was AT home with him, where we BOTH belonged. I worked at a home health agency once, where it seemed more like a day care center than a place of business at times. Besides making it next to impossible to get any work done, these kids also brought with them all the usual communicable diseases...including colds. The week before my first grandchild was born, the other supervisor brought her 5-year-old son to work with her. BOTH of them were sick with URI's, and three days later I wound up sick, too. My URI developed into acute bronchitis, and by the time my daughter-in-law went into labor, I was too sick to witness my granddaughter's birth. She was almost three weeks old by the time I was well enough to come in contact with her, and as I held her in my arms for the first time, I cried. I was so damn mad, because not only did that woman have NO business coming to work sick AND with a sick child, but she had also robbed me of being able to participate in an event that I had waited SO long for.

donmomofnine · Jul 26, 2004

I guess I cannot even imagine this happening?! What about the nursing assistants who see professionals with their kids at work? Don't they deserve the same consideration? They can really cannot afford child care, or to miss a day of work being sick. Do you think they can take care of residents and young children? What about the dietary staff? Now there's a thought... kids running around in a kitchen!

Does anyone have insurance carriers for Liability Insurance at their facility? Do they know that this is happening? NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS would they approve of that! What about OSHA? Geez! This seems so common sense to me. I guess I am just narrow minded. We have ample paid time off and work with our staff in emergency situations, but bringing the kids is not the answer.

Some other poster said, "only in LTC!" They were right! Things like this make long term care look like a second class operation.

Jailhouse RN · Jul 27, 2004

In a hospital or nursing home? You are kidding, right?

RNPATL, DNP, RN · Jul 27, 2004

While I can appreciate the posts for and against bringing children to work in a LTC facility .... some years ago, when I was an administrator of a LTC, I licensed the actual facility as a child day care :chuckle . It was a tough call, but for those folks that work in LTC, the Eden Experience was the foundation behind licensing the facility as a child care facility also. The kids area was separate from the rest of the facility, but contained within the nursing home. We offered joint activity programs and, the residents and children all had lunch together in the main dining room. We offered many joint programs between the resident activity program and the kid's activity programs. Our joint programs were probab ly the most popular. On weekends, the residents were actually bored. The dining experience was awesome, not only for the staff, but moreso for the residents and the kids. You should have seen their eyes light up when a 6 or 7 year old would come to their table, sit down and pull out their bagged lunch that Mom sent from home.

I will never forget that experience! In fact, we had our annual state survery during one summer camp ...... I refused to change anything just because the "State" was there ... the children came up to the dining room at the same time they did every day, had their lunch, then went outside for play time .... the Dietitian and the Team Leader of the survey team were in awe that we had accomplished such a thing and in fact, were quite complimentary. For our summer camps, staff children (up to 12 years old) were allowed to participate and children between 13-16 were allowed to be involved with the camp as CIT's .... LTC is certainly not a 2nd class place ... and when we remember that LTC is NOT a sterile clinical environment, in fact it is a place where people live, our perspective about involving children might also change. :balloons:

leslie :-D · Jul 27, 2004

actually pat, that's a wonderful idea. but it's not the same as bringing your child to work w/o any formal supervision.

your program was structured and licensed with proper staffing. that's a huge difference, yes? but again, elderly absolutely love integrating with children and pets.

vwgirl · Jul 27, 2004

How about the time your childcare falls through (babysitter has a death in the family) and no one else is available to help you? This just happened to me recently on a night when both my husband and I had to work (our schedules overlap by three hours; I go in at 7 and he gets done at 10). I did NOT want to bring my kids into work with me, but if I had calling out for this reason would be totally unacceptable to my employer. Luckily, we were able to around for them to play at a friend's house. I can't wait until they are old enough so I don't have to stress over this anymore.

donmomofnine · Jul 27, 2004

While I can appreciate the posts for and against bringing children to work in a LTC facility .... some years ago, when I was an administrator of a LTC, I licensed the actual facility as a child day care :chuckle . It was a tough call, but for those folks that work in LTC, the Eden Experience was the foundation behind licensing the facility as a child care facility also. The kids area was separate from the rest of the facility, but contained within the nursing home. We offered joint activity programs and, the residents and children all had lunch together in the main dining room. We offered many joint programs between the resident activity program and the kid's activity programs. Our joint programs were probab ly the most popular. On weekends, the residents were actually bored. The dining experience was awesome, not only for the staff, but moreso for the residents and the kids. You should have seen their eyes light up when a 6 or 7 year old would come to their table, sit down and pull out their bagged lunch that Mom sent from home.
I will never forget that experience! In fact, we had our annual state survery during one summer camp ...... I refused to change anything just because the "State" was there ... the children came up to the dining room at the same time they did every day, had their lunch, then went outside for play time .... the Dietitian and the Team Leader of the survey team were in awe that we had accomplished such a thing and in fact, were quite complimentary. For our summer camps, staff children (up to 12 years old) were allowed to participate and children between 13-16 were allowed to be involved with the camp as CIT's .... LTC is certainly not a 2nd class place ... and when we remember that LTC is NOT a sterile clinical environment, in fact it is a place where people live, our perspective about involving children might also change. :balloons:

What a wonderful experience! Of course, as an administrator, you had to also jump through many hoops to make this happen. I am sure that one of them included obtaining Liability Insurance to cover this type of service.

Long term care is a HOME, but not the employees home, the resident's home! I know some child visitors we have that make some of our residents crazy when they are here for only one hour:)