Healthcare and Child Care in Queensland (Australia)
- Abstract
Healthcare and child care are challenging issues, particularly in a culturally diverse country like Australia. There are different opinions depending upon personal and political divisions. Career in these fields, demands knowledge and understanding of statutory standards and professional obligations related to safety and well-being of children and healthcare seekers. This paper discusses relevant issues of this profession.
- Sustainability of Environment
The land is 10km from city and in a commercial zone. The area is covered in gravel and uneven. The perimeter fence is made of galvanised steel mesh. While the location cannot be changed, the gravel and uneven surface and the fence will need modifications. Changes as required by the standards mentioned in Establishing a Centre Based Child Care Service in Queensland will be required in the building to make it acceptable for use. The risks involved are the traffic and noise problems in the commercial zone (Gavigan, 2008). The distance from the city is likely to cause some inconvenience to parents using public transport. The gravel and uneven surface and the steel wire mesh fence will also pose injury hazard o children. If the building is also used as a home, the care centre and the home should be completely separated with respect to entrance and access.
- Establishing Child Care
“The legislation governing the provision of child care in Queensland is the Child Care Act 2002 and the Child Care Regulation 2003.” (Queensland Government; Department of Communities). Parents should first contact Australian Government Department of Family and Community Services and obtain a copy of Queensland Child Care Strategic Plan 2000–2005 from www.communities.qld.gov.au/childcare.
The parents will have to apply for town planning consent for a proposal to build a centre based service. Complete guidance in this regard has been provided in the Developer's Kit - Establishing a Centre Based Child Care Service in Queensland.
- Evacuation Procedures
“Children, educators, staff and parents will be prepared for unforeseen dangers, critical incidences and unexpected events on an on-going basis.” (Education and Care Services National Regulations: 97, 168; National Quality Standards: 2.3.3). Evacuation plans for emergencies like fire, bomb threat and outbreak of epidemic or infectious disease will be prepared. Children and educators/staff will be informed and explained the evacuation procedures. Provision for fire safety equipment and availability of water supply at accessible points will be made. Mock drills for such evacuation will be practised periodically. Evacuation plans and procedures will be displayed at exits. Emergency exits and routes will be without obstructions.
Educators/staff will have the list and phone numbers of emergency contacts like fire, police and hospitals. Educators will be primarily qualified for rendering first aid. Educators/staff will maintain first aid kits and make these readily available. Educators/staff will move children to safety as soon as a risk is identified. Records of mock drills for fire and other emergencies will be maintained regularly and evaluation of performance will be reviewed.
- Medical Emergency: Boy bitten by Spider
Kane shows symptoms of acute pain. Tahlia will calm and reassure Kane and make him lie comfortably. She will wash the affected part of the arm with soap and water and apply icepack to relieve pain. Medical aid will be called if further severe symptoms develop.
Other children will be worried and they will have to be reassured. Educators will explain that all the spiders are not poisonous. Kane’s symptoms are not severe and he will be cured soon. It is necessary to rest him. Kane’s family will be informed and assured that Kane has been given adequate treatment and medical aid will be called if required.
As a follow-up action, the gardener will be instructed to check the water troughs and plants and rid them of harmful insects and termites; and spray insecticides if required. Educators will keep a watch on the children while they are playing in the garden. Children will be instructed to keep away from insects when they see them.
Assessment 2
Monitoring the Service Practices
- Medical Administration and Storage
In this area, I would investigate whether the process of drug administration is executed by individuals who are trained in the area. This is because professional or people who are trained to administer drugs have the technical knowhow about the precautionary measures that need to be put in place to make sure that medicine is used for the purpose to which it is intended. Any individuals that are not trained in administering medicine would not be allowed to do so when I am the supervisor. If any of the staff is interested in becoming certified to administer medicine, they have to go through a rigorous training program that would allow them to be more cautious and vigilant in the process of medicine administration.
Medicine storage is an important factor that I would also look into once appointed to be a supervisor. It is important to note that some medicines can go bad if they are not stored in the correct environment. For this reason, I would assess the safety of the stores that are used in the storage of drugs. I would make sure that the stores are cool and dry. This would ensure that medicines are not contaminated by the environment that characterized the storage infrastructure.
- Infection Control Guidelines
- Chemicals and Hazardous Material
As a supervisor, I would make sure that all chemicals and hazardous material in the work place are professionally handled. This would mean that workers would be protected from chemicals through the use of protective gear. Stringent measures will be put into place to make sure that it is obligatory for all employees to wear protective gear when they are handling chemicals and other hazardous material. In addition, I would make sure that the disposal of hazardous material and chemicals is environmental friendly so as to protect the general public from adverse effects that might result from these chemicals.
- Food Handling and Storage
Food is one of the areas that can diseases can be spread in the workplace. In order to make sure that food in the work place is safe and healthy, I would make sure that the food is handled with high levels of hygiene and professionalism. All individuals that are involved in the process of food handling will be required to wear gloves and wash their hands I order to make sure that they do not contaminate thee food. In addition, as a supervisor, I am going to assess the conditions of the food stores so as to ensure that the conditions in the food stores do not contaminate foods. This would include making sure that the stores remain cool and dry and maintaining the temperature at a favorable range. This would ensure that foods are preserved for a long time and are not contaminated.
- Children hygiene practices
At a tender age, children have a low level of immunity towards different diseases. In order to make sure that children are out of harm’s way, it is important to facilitate hygiene practices among them. This can be enhanced by making sure that objects that children handle on a daily basis are disinfected (Tranter, 2004, p.121). This kills the bacteria that might rest of these surfaces. In addition, it should be part of the curriculum that children are taught about some of the ways in which they can remain healthy and clean. Some of these practices could include cleaning of hands before eating, and also cleaning of hands after visiting the toilet. In this way, children could be protected from diseases that would emanate from unhygienic practices among the children.
Question 2 & 3
- High quality practices by educators
The success of the above mentioned practices can be maintained at a high quality by making sure that educators adhere to the objectives and the regulations that are set out by the institution. One of the ways that high quality can be maintained is through the introduction of incentives for the educators. Educators who prove to be successful in maintaining high quality practices should be rewarded with incentives such as increase in pay or upward mobility with the social hierarchy. The converse of that would be that educators who do not work towards providing high quality practices should be assisted and facilitated to do so. Educators who do not abide by the institution’s policies should be reprimanded and in dire cases, they should be relieved off their responsibilities so as to make sure that those individual who are motivated towards meeting the objectives and goals of the institution are maintained in the workforce.
Question 4
- Communication of Infection Control Guidelines
First of all, prevention of more individuals from being infected is the most reasonable thing to begin with. Appropriate medical precautions such as injection shots should be conducted on members of the service so as to make sure that there are immune to the diseases that are likely to face them during the winter. Those individuals that have already been infected should be quickly treated so as to make sure that their infections are contained. The communication should entail some of the ways in which people can be able to avoid contracting the diseases, referral to certified medical personnel, as well as the provision community safety guidelines through lectures or booklets. In this way members of the community and the work place are adequately protected from the infections that might result in the work place.
Question 5
- Responding to Sick Children
Certified medical personnel should be allowed with the authorization parents to inspect children for any ailments on a regular basis. This would mean that sick children should commence treatment as soon as a give ailment is discovered (McMurray, 2007). Bearing in mind that children have a low immunity to diseases, waiting for various protocols can lead to dire consequences such as the loss of life. Therefore, the treatment of sick children should begin as soon as symptoms of a given disease are identified.
- Informing Parents
The institution should have all the phone numbers and contact information of parents. This ensures that parents are immediately contacted in the case that there children fall ill at school. Immediate contact of the parent enables the parent to provide vital information regarding the health of their children and the kind of medical attention that they authorize with regards to their children (Barnes, 2013, p.213). In this way, the treatment process that is given to children is not like to spur conflict between parents and institution administrators.
- Reporting the Notifiable Disease
The institution should have a hotline where both the staff team and parents are notified about the diseases that have been identified in the service environment. In this way, the reporting can be done through school hotlines, email, or via other methods of communication. This allows parents and staff members to put into place precautionary measures that would reduce the magnitude of the outbreak of a given disease (McMurray, 2011). The reporting of a notable disease also allows parents whose children are not sick to take their children to doctors for medical checkup.
- Reviewing policies and Procedures
In order to avoid an outbreak of diseases during subsequent winters, it is important that there are procedures that are followed. Some of the procedures would include medical checkups after the change of season to winter. In this way, ailments and other infectious diseases are identified before they spread among children. Parents should be bestowed with the responsibility of making sure that their children undergo the required medical checkups so as to ascertain that they are medically fit to be within the service environment. In order to make sure that each child undergoes a medical checkup, there is need for the service administrators to be presented with documentation and medical reports from each child indicating that they underwent medical checkup (Acton, 2012, p.69). In this way, cases of outbreak of diseases during the winter can be amicably addressed. However, it is also important to understand that the reviewing of policy is an agenda that might not resonate with some parents. This means that some parents would be vehemently opposed to the change of policy. However, there is a need for both parents and the staff team to be included in the process of reviewing policies and procedures. In this way, the final policies and procedures that are arrived at are all inclusive and acceptable by all parties involved.
Reference List
Acton, P. (2012). Advances in Hygiene Research and Application: 2012 Edition .Australia: The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care .p65-69
Barnes, M. (2013). Child, youth and family health: strengthening communities (2nd ed.). Chatswood, N.S.W.: Elsevier Australia.p213-214
Gavigan, C. (2008). Healthy child, healthy world: creating a cleaner, greener, safer home. Chatswood, N.S.W.: Elsevier Australia.
McMurray, A. (2007). Community health and wellness: a socio-ecological approach (3rd ed.). Sydney: Mosby Elsevier.
McMurray, A., & Clendon, J. (2011). Community health and wellness: primary health care in practice (4th ed.). Chatswood, N.S.W.: Elsevier Australia.
Tranter, M. (2004). Occupational hygiene and risk management (2nd ed.). Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin.p121-126
