New job issues

[Sarah389]

I have recently started a new job in the nursery room and I am feeling concerned and unhappy about the centre. I have routinely found myself caring for 6 babies and an additional 2 babies sleeping on my own while the RL goes on lunch (30min break). During this time I find it impossible to change nappies, prepare bottles, perform cot checks every 10min and overall care for the children. This does not occur each day but it has happened more than twice. Once the RL is back, she often ducks to the toilet for 15mins at a time, often leaving myself and a trainee out of ratio.
I also have issues with the overall hygiene practices of the centre, with gloves not being worn when serving food, wipes not being available to wipe children's noses, hands and faces. The sandpit often smells like animal urine and the excuse given is "That's weird because its covered". I have made a point of racking the sandpit and ensuring the cover is secure at the end of the day but no on else seems to care and are happy for the children to play in the sandpit. The other day animal feces was found and the only action was to throw it away.
There are also a number of other issues that have caused me concern and now I just feel dread every day I go to work.
I have raised certain issues with staff members and RL (director is away) but I just feel like this is the way things are 'done'.

[Lorina]

Hi Sarah,

Yes, you should feel concerned because the issues you are having at the centre are unhygienic and it is a safety risk to the children. In regards to ratio it is 1:4 - if you are working alongside the trainee when your RL is on her break you are still in ratio, however, if you are by yourself then you are out of ratio, so another Educator needs to come and cover her lunch break to give you a hand.

As for the hygiene practices it could be out of sheer laziness, they cant be bothered so they let it be. This is extremely unhealthy as cross-contamination could occur when serving food without gloves. The sandpit should be covered securely and disinfected left open in the sun to "kill germs" through the day. Throwing out faeces is not how to clean the sandpit as the sandpit had already been contaminated. The children could get rashes, bacteria spread etc. and worse!

Talking to the staff isn't going to help as they are the ones doing this - I think that the Director is away is the key point and that's why you are having these issues.

Keep a note of what's been happening and you'll have to wait for the Director to come back to discuss it...

,
Lorina

[Sarah389]

Sorry I should have clarified. I have been left alone and out of ratio as well as out of ratio with a trainee (2 educators with 10 babies). I am also a little worried about discussing these issues with the director as the director is friends with a number of the educators and this could possibly have ramifications for me.

[Lorina]

I know it's hard to talk to the Director about these issues - especially if they are friends and especially if they cant be professional and separate the two. Is there a management team that can address these issues or even the owner you could talk with?

,
Lorina