Journaling my Journey

Journey through Family Tree Child Development Center

            My original impression upon learning of this clinical site left me feeling a bit skeptical. Spending a day at a childcare center did not sound like a clinical experience a nursing student would be assigned. Intending to give benefit to the doubt, I suspected there might be a registered nurse on staff at the center. Upon arrival, after seeing the size of the building and learning about its maximum capacity of 153 children and its near proximity to the regional medical center, my suspicion increased to an expectation. However, I soon learned otherwise. It was then that I realized we were not there to learn how to function in a nursing capacity, but to learn more about interacting with children during assessments of human growth and development. At least I suspect that may be why we were assigned to a child care center as part of our nursing clinical experience. Regardless of the purposes of this assignment, I feel as if I have profited from this adventure.

             I learned that observation of so many children at one time could be both rewarding and extremely challenging. Nevertheless, more importantly, I learned to appreciate how uniquely different and yet at the same time very similar individuals within an age group could comparatively be. I must say though, that I was rather surprised and disappointed to learn through James’ comments, that reportedly they discourage anyone, even their staff, from picking up the children who come running to them. During our orientation, we also learned the facility caters to hospital employees as a benefit, and it is mandated to serve the public due to its subsidized childcare program. There are 15 different rooms assigned to five different age groups. The ages are broken down into infants ranging from 6 weeks to one year, walking babies from 12-24 months, toddlers from 24-36 months, preschool from 3-5 years of age, and school age from 5-11 years of age. All personnel in direct childcare are required to have attained at least an associate’s degree, and are required to complete at least 10 hours of continuing education per year, which includes first-aid and infant and child CPR. The maximum number of children to which one person may be assigned varied according to age of the child. One woman caring for the school-age children told me she could be responsible for 15 children at one time. Another lady caring for the walking babies told me she could have as many as eight at one time per Georgia’s laws or six per national guidelines. 

I could go on and on, but this week I have 25 chapters "to read" before next week's test...in just one class! So, I must go...later Y'all!

 LOVE Y'ALL!!! 

EMS