Teachers Influencing Illness
How do teachers influence ilness in children attending daycare?
Since my last article was published on the issue of health in the daycare, I have come down with one of the harshest colds of my time at my present center.
The irony is not lost on me.
The truth is that my health was affected by various other issues-- such as busyness and the like, but my happening to take ill brought up another issue of health in the daycare setting-- the health of the teachers.
Students are encouraged to stay home if they are feeling ill, but for teachers there are several other issues. First, it is often inconvenient to find someone to substitute if one is feeling ill. Often, we will not make the decision of whether or not we are too ill to work until the morning of the day we are scheduled to work. If none of the regular teachers can work during our assigned hours we are more likely to still work because of the inconvenience of finding a substitute from an outside source, and the loss of routine that both children and other teachers experience.
Also, teaching in a daycare setting is something that is done for love of the children instead of for money, and thus any missed work is a great burden upon the budgets of teachers.
However, if teachers do come to work ill, they may infect children with whatever they are carrying. If teachers do decide to come to work when they are feeliong ill it is vitally important for them to be extra cautious against spreading infections and wash hands even more frequently than when well.
If you want to read more on the topic of health in the daycare setting, be sure to check out my most recent article, Childhood Sickness which contains more information on common childhood illnesses and if children can be brought to daycare while they are suffering from them.
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