Childhood Ailments and Health Safety Measures - Essay Example

"Childhood Ailments and Health Safety Measures" is a perfect example of a paper on child development. 
Childhood ailments in children are some of the issues that affect children in their different developmental stages. However, this should be no cause for alarm for parents and caregivers because they are ailments that can be treated at home. Also, they are not communicable diseases but should be prevented by observing all hygiene and health safety measures. For this research, the aim is to look at three different caregiving facilities and their policies concerning common childhood ailments policies. Vomiting and diarrhea, earaches, and head lice are the common childhood ailments chosen. Licensed facilities under investigation include Littlehampton Child Care, Florence Fuller, and California Child Care Center. In these Centers, different health policies and procedures followed by caregivers when attending to sick children. These facilities have given parents and guardians an opportunity of securing their jobs by not being absent.

Littlehampton Child Care Centre is one of the centers covered by the National Association for Sick Child Daycare (NASCD) that gives care to children with common childhood ailments like vomiting and diarrhea. At the child care facility, those children exhibiting symptoms of vomiting, are comforted and cleaned. All affected areas in the facility will need sanitization and a change of clothes. Caregivers will need to complete an illness report to be handed over to the guardian at the end of the day to facilitate monitoring of the child’s health. The same procedures and policies are taken for one who is experiencing diarrhea in daycare. However, if the vomiting and diarrhea persist during the day, other measures need to be considered in ensuring that the child’s health is restored within a period of 24 hours.

Florence Fuller Center is another facility that gives allowance to parents to drop off their children with common ailments like sore throats, earaches, and sniffles that are not communicable. Mildly III Clinic found in the Center helps in taking care of children with mild ailments as stated by the Health Department Standards. A child will be allowed to stay in the Center if the school nurse approves of the child’s illness and as a result, there is no need to exclude the child from the child daycare (Romaniuk and Taft Group 442). Earaches are a common disorder experienced by children, but should not be the reason for excluding children since it is not communicable. Caregivers need to pay particular attention to the children in order to determine the severity of the problem. Thus, administer proper care according to health standards stipulated by the facility.

California Child Care has a Health Program that gives children with common ailments the chance of spending time with their friends in the daycare. A Head louse (pediculosis) is an ailment that affects people of any age and sex. Children with this are treated with a medicated lotion/shampoo or rinse. Caregivers should use the shampoo as per instructions since it is a toxic and powerful insecticide. Therefore, there is no need for exclusion of children from daycare (California Child Development Division 250). All that the Center does is to notify the guardians and inform them of the situation that needs to be treated before returning the child to school the next day. Close contacts with the child need monitoring that ensures no other cases are prevalent in the Centre. California Child Care then applies proper treatment measures because re-infestation of these children from untreated; and infested from contact than failure due to treatment by caregivers. Head lice is not an ailment brought about by dirt or germs and thus, children should not be excluded.

In conclusion, these licensed groups are helping parents in caring for their young children and promoting performance levels. Childhood ailments are not communicable and need particular care. This will help children in restoring their nutritional health. It is essential for childcare facilities to have stipulated policies that cover these ailments in order to prevent the spread of diseases in the Centre.