“It’s our polite nudge in the ribs to help you and your team stay organised and on task.”
This week’s subject is: Immunisations
Element 2.1.2: Effective illness and injury management and hygiene practices are promoted and implemented.
Have you reviewed children’s immunisation status to ensure all immunisations are up to date?
There are different immunisation requirements across Australian states and territories however, all Services must ensure compliance with regulation 162 by ensuring accurate health records are maintained for each child enrolled at the Service within their enrolment record, including the child’s immunisation status.
There are a number of methods that Services can adopt to assist with keeping children’s immunisation records up to date. Many childcare apps provide an immunisation feature to provide alerts and send notifications when immunisations are due for individual children. Some services may keep track of immunisations through a manual register. The Childcare Centre Desktop has an Immunisation Registerwhere Services can record each enrolled child to keep track of their immunisation details and due dates. The template also includes a sample letter to provide to parents to alert them to update their child’s immunisation record with the Service.
Services should ensure families are provided with relevant information about immunisations and accessing their Immunisation History Statement at the time of (and throughout their) enrolment. Ensure you provide this information in relevant languages (represented within your Service). In addition to providing individual notifications to families for immunisation status updates, include reminders & promote the Save the Date to Vaccinate app in your newsletter and display immunisation information on your parent/family notice board to remind families to provide the Service with relevant updates.
Immunisations for staff:
The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) recommend the following immunisations for people working in early childhood education and care services: Hepatitis A; MMR (measles, mumps & rubella); Pertussis (whooping cough); and Varicella (chickenpox). An annual Influenza shot is also recommended.
Provide information about vaccination at the time of induction, including within the staff handbook. Management should record information about educators and staff members’ current immunisation status and keep this up to date. An Employee Immunisation Record can be downloaded from the Childcare Centre Desktop resource library.
Resources:
National Immunisation Program (NIP)
Immunisations for staff working in ECEC
Childcare and Preschool Entry and Immunisation Information Brochure for families (NSW)
Save the Date to Vaccinate app
Immunisation schedules: QLD, ACT, NSW, NT, SA, WA, TAS, VIC
Within System7 go to Quality Area 2/ Modules 5 & 6 to submit self-assessment notes and if required, open a QIP issue if you identify any areas of improvement.
The Childcare Centre Desktop has a range of resources to assist services with immunisation records. These include Immunisation Policy, Immunisation Register, Employee Immunisation Record and much more.
Resources, NQS Element, Regulation and System7 links:
Childcare Centre Desktop – Childcare Centre Desktop
National Quality Standard – QA 2/ 2.1.2- Health practices and procedures
National Regulations – 88, 162
System7 Module – QA 2/ Modules 5 & 6
If you have any questions send us a note via the Contact page here!
