Infection Prevention and Control Practices by Nurses in Daycare Centers for Children with Medical Care

Abstract

This study aimed to identify infection prevention and control measures practiced by nurses in daycare centers that accommodate children with medical complications. Semistructured interviews were conducted with eleven nurses working at eight licensed daycare centers in Tokyo. The obtained data were analyzed qualitatively and descriptively.

Nurses’ practices were categorized as “understanding information necessary to maintain health,” “disseminating preventive actions through information provided by them,” “daily collaboration with nurses and other professionals,” “efforts to prevent infection through contact,” and “efforts to prevent infection through aerosols and droplets.”

Nurses balanced medical care, daily life, and children’s needs by allowing children to interact and grow through contact with peers while ensuring infection prevention.

Additionally, considering the balance between medical care, daily life, and childcare, nurses provided support and environmental arrangements to enable children with medical complications to continue attending the daycare center, and the entire daycare center and community, including other professionals, looked after the children.