Nappy Changing Again!

[Guest]

HI

 

Okay, for those of you who read the other post i wrote you will know iahve moved our nappy changing area into the staff bathroom.

 

I spoke with a member of staff last night and she is up in arms over this. She said thatat college they were told staff could not change nappies alone in a seperate room? ~ I have never heard this before, i know all staff need to be police checked.

So this staff member said she would not be comfortable changing nappies alone as it leaves her open to allegations being made and no one around to prove (or rather disprove) them.

 

Ihave had a quick gander on ofsted's website and their seems little guidance at all about nappy changing station locations,

Ihad a trall on the internet and all i have really come up with is some guidance saying nappy changing areas should be away from play areas and away from food serfving /eating areas. Our old changing areas were in the room (thus near play areas) and on the wet floor area thus near where children eat .

 

it seems i can't do right for doing wroing, i am not wholly comfortable with children being changed in the room oin our wet area (asi say its near food areas), but then some staff say they won't change nappies out of the view of others.

 

anyone else come up against staff refusing to change napies if their not in a room with other staff?,

am i wrong in even expecting staff to change nappies alone?

 

another grey area i guess

 

Dawn

[Sue R]

I'm sure we had this conversation a year or so ago, try a forum search - I'll try and find it, too.

 

Sue

[Beau]

I'm not sure if this is the conversation that Sue was refering to Dawn.

 

Toileting Again, Sorry

[Sue R]

Well done, Carol!!

[narnia]

we change nappies and toilet children on a 1:1 basis.We are all vetted, so I believe that the children are safe with my staff.I would not dream of changing nappies in the main playroom, as this si where we also eat.I don't understand the college saying there MUST be 2 staff, as mentioned, this is just not practicable, and what about the child's privacy anyway???" people hanging around instead of one?some children would be really bothered by that.I always leave the loo door ajar when changing etc,so this, i believe covers us.ofsted have always been happy with this arrangement.

[Guest]

Hi Dawn. I think your staff member may be correct about that if her training is fairly recent. I too was told this during my training days but fortunately, our bathroom/changing areas are in a Iseperate room with a hole in the wall to ensure children's privacy but also to ensure that the changing adults can be seen. I know this isn't always possible, and our nursery has just been refurbished to allow this, but in their other settings, as long as the adult can at least be heard, then they are able to change unsupervised. Obviously we are all police checked.

[whippersnappers]

Hi Dawn.

We have our nappy changing unit in the play room, and at most times nappies are changed on a 1-1 basis. We are a small nursery, working from a 2 bedroom bungalow so we have removed all doors, except children's toilets, and replaced them with stair gates, which means although there is only one member of staff changing nappies there is always other staff members walking passed. However i must agree with the student who says that she was taught that this isn't the way it should be done, because one of my staff members who is in the process of doing her nvq3 has also said this. The main reason is if a parent finds any injuries to the child in the nappy area the person who changes nappies is the first suspect of causing such injuries. We have recently had our Ofsted inspection and got good for our care, so i really think that as long as staff are comfortable with the procedures you put in place, either would be fine.

[Guest]

I wonder how many allegations of an innapropriatte / child protection nature have been made by parents against staff (nationwide). This data would inform a risk assessment, alongside risk assessment of changing within the play areas for comparison. Procedures such as recording nappy changes would also impact on lowering risks.

 

Peggy

[Guest]

Thanks for advice everyone,

 

I have decided that for the time being we are going to trial the nappy changing area being in the staff bathroom. I have written clear guidelines for the procedure when changing a child in there.. ie all changes to be written down,and if there are any concerns re marks on child noticed at nappy changing time then to tell a senior staff member and these concerns will be written down and signed by both staff.....

 

will see how this works for a week or two and if we have problems then i will look at moving the nappy change area back in the room.

 

I personally think from a health and hygiene point of view for us it is better to have the changing area out of the rooms beacuse they were not to far from food serving areas when they were in the rooms.

 

Dawn

[whippersnappers]

Me again. We do keep individual child nappy changing records. Each time a child has their nappy changed the member of staff fills in Date, time, who changed them, condition of nappy and if they have been cremed.

[Guest]

We always take two staff members out to change a nappy. I can totally see what your staff member is saying. It is safer for everyone. I would just send two staff members out at a time. 2 can be left in the hall while it is going on, you are all still on the premises and it will only take a few minute. Just tell the other stff members to be vigilant while the nappy is being changed

 

Deb

[Rea]

I've been to a fair few places and have never seen 2 members of staff change a nappy. If we are going to go down that route then we may aswell get rid of the CRB and just keep watching each other.

[Guest]

I totally agree with Rea. If we cannot be trusted to change children on our own then we may as well give up, and we certainly don't need CRB checks! We had to change four children on Wednesday, which would have meant that our way of working with a member of staff in each room would have been compromised. So, do we have two members of staff changing children leaving rooms unsupervised or inadequately supervised?

And what do we do when we are outside playing? We have to go out as a whole group because we do not have a secure outside play area. When children want to go to the toilet do I send two members of staff? If so what do I do about the fact that our ratios are compromised with the children who are outside?

And where do the colleges get their information from? Have they been told by OFSTED that this is what is needed? I think perhaps not. If you are picked up on this at in inspection then by all means make sure you make changes until then I would carry on as you are.

Linda

[hali]

we change children on our own but jot it in a book to cover ourselves

[Deb]

Could the door the staff bathroom be wedged or hooked open whilst changing nappies?

[Guest]

I'm not yet CRB cleared but I am allowed to change children as long as I can be either seen or heard. This, according to my manager is ok with Ofsted, as she checked. I agree with the points of Rea and Linda, what is the point of CRB checks if two people are going to change children. The other argument to that is, what about the children's right to privacy? How private is it having one member of staff changing and another gawping over their shoulder?

 

I think you should trial it Dawn and see how it goes. If it doesn't go according to plan then there is nothing to stop you making alternative arrangements.

[Guest]

At the end of the day owners/managers need to be able to trust their staff. If we can't do that then we are in a sorry state. I know we also have to trust parents too. I feel we have become a nation of worriers-we worry far too much about things that generally aren't going to happen. We need to say enough is enough.

As Peggy said, it would be interesting to see the statistics for accusations against staff in settings to find out just how many cases there are where parents have made allegations.

Linda

[aliamch]

This question always seems to pop up when someone one is on their NVQ 3 training. I now feel it's a world gone PC mad. For a while we went in two's to change nappies, but now only if the child is reluctant to be changed or if they're an older child with Sen issues. Maybe someone should ask the NVQ trainers where their information comes from to help clarify this matter.

Karrie