"If acted upon, misconceptions about these guidelines could lead to inappropriate exclusions and unnecessary work absences for parents," says Dr. Copeland. "On the other hand, some misconceptions, particularly among pediatricians, could lead to inappropriate inclusions that could delay medical evaluation and treatment and reduce the quality of child care for other children due to the special demands of an ill child."
To conduct the Ambulatory Pediatrics study, Dr. Copeland and her colleagues surveyed pediatricians, parents and child care providers in the Baltimore area between May and June 2000. While child care providers, parents and pediatricians all had poor knowledge of the guidelines, they had very different beliefs about exclusions, their effectiveness and how consistently they are implemented.
For example, 81 percent of pediatricians thought that current child care exclusion practices result in too many exclusions, while 44 percent of child care providers thought current practices result in too few exclusions. Seventy-eight percent of parents of children in child care were happy with the frequency of exclusions.
More than 80 percent of child care providers, 70% of parents thought that child care providers use good judgment when excluding a child, follow the written guidelines closely and are consistent about which children need to be excluded. Only about a third of pediatricians agreed. Likewise, 70 percent of child care providers and 60 percent of parents felt that sick children should be excluded because child care providers may be held legally responsible for a child's detriment. Only 33 percent of pediatricians felt this way.
"All three groups -- but especially child care providers and paren
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Contact: Jim Feuer
jim.feuer@cchmc.org
513-636-4656
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
22-Nov-2005