Recognition of Current Situation and Issues in Establishing a System to Accept Children Requiring Medical Care into After-School Daycare—From Interviews with 5 Nurses—

Abstract

Objective: To clarify nurses’ recognition of the current situation and issues surrounding the acceptance of children requiring medical care at After-School Daycare.

Methods: This was an exploratory study with a qualitative descriptive research design. Semi-constructive interviews were conducted with five nurses at After-School Daycare that accepts children requiring medical care.

Results: The current situation was categorized into medical safety and human resource management, and the problems were categorized into one theme. The medical safety aspects included “sharing care methods at home,” “observation from a preventive perspective,” “clarifying the division of roles regarding physical condition management,” and “crisis management.” The human resource system included “establishment of continuous care,” “cooperation with other professions,” and “establishment of a support system for nurses,” while the issues included “securing personnel for safe operation,” “difficulties in management,” “frustration that some children are difficult to accept,” “lack of a perspective on home care upon discharge,” and “lack of a perspective on long-term medical care and education.”

Conclusion: The nurses at After-School Daycare that accepts children requiring medical care, recognized the need to establish a system for infection control, disaster management, and medical safety measures, as well as for responding to sudden changes in medical conditions. They recognized the difficulty of securing personnel and management as issues.