AIBU to report a colleague after a child with allergies was given milk?

[Pinkpony123]

AIBU- So I work in a nursery and I had popped inside (all the children were outside eating snack) when I came back out something told me I needed to look in child X's cup to see what was in it. (Child X has a dairy allergy) I look into the cup to see milk, I take the cup away and ask "Why has X got milk, they have a dairy allergy?" When I said this I was unsure who had given it to them (This is relevant). Another staff member who has been in the class for months said she had forgotten X had a dairy allergy and thought it was just Y.I then go inside to double check the X's allergy action plan. When I come back out I just reiterate what is said on the plan and go sit by X to monitor them. A few minutes later go back in to fill a child's water bottle, and one of the managers pass so I let her know incase there is any backlash from the parent (rightly so). The member of staff who gave the milk is taking it super personally and won't talk to me and has also seemingly turned the other staff in my room on me who were previously friendly with me. This member of staff has also received no sanction, and other staff in the are saying because shes new its ok (baring in mind we have other children with anaphylaxis alergies in the class) So am I being unreasonable to think she is totally over reacting as she was the one at fault for giving X the milk in the first place.

Across the room recently I have had to take food off several children given by other members of staff because they have given a child a food they are allergic to or are not allowed.

A child in a village near us died because his school didn't follow the protocol for his milk allergy properly. IIRC there had already been a mistake before.

Can I just pick up on this.

Red/ green colour blindness is fairly common, although much less so in women and most nursery workers are women.

If you are using colour coding like this it is a good idea to have something else on the card.

OP

Didn't you fill out an incident report?

Once something happens sometimes a form get filled out sometimes it doesn't. Don't know if it did on this occasion. (I wasn't even made aware of these forms until a few months ago) information sharing is not good. The forms we use are separate to accident and incident (injury/behavior based) forms

Therer are pictures on the wall with all the children and their medicals. No they were still in ratio with spare staff as we were really quiet that there was 4 of them with less than 25 1:8.

Thank god there are people like you in this world @Pinkpony123

The nursery workers’ reaction is the kind of thing that leads to deaths! They think covering up a mistake is more important than making sure this never happens again.

It’s also the kind of behaviour which is uncovered in numerous scandals including the recent maternity report into Nottingham and even the Post office scandal where people lost their livelihoods, went to prison and some committed suicide. People cover up mistakes and allow these things to happen because they only care about themselves.

People seem to be seeing a milk allergy as not that serious for some reason but then this happens. 🙈

People seem to be seeing a milk allergy as not that serious for some reason but then this happens. 🙈

TBH I don't know if it would have got back to management if I hadn't said anything.

You did absolutely the right thing, you are actually protecting first and foremost the children but also yourself, your whole team of staff and the nursery from closure or brand reputation.

So you don’t know if the person who given milk had even reported it. Surely if an allergen has been given all staff (in that class at least) should be made aware so they can keep an eye out for any ill effects. And obviously parents need to be informed

Something else I forgot to add was that evening another staff member from my room (neither of the ones who have been previously mentioned) put a message in the classes group chat reminding people about being kind, and that some people have never worked in early years before(The person who gave the milk previously worked in a restaurant which concerns me). But I don't feel I was being unkind at all I was just stating the obvious and asking a question 🙈. Half expecting to be pulled in by management next week cuz everything I say is wrong. I know I was right though especially after all the replies so this is very validating.

You were absolutely right to report it. Blase attitudes like that can literally kill. Luckily the child's allergy was not that serious. When my son was in nursery one of the staff gave him yogurt because she didn't know that yogurt is made from milk...

Just because the child didn't have an immediate reactipn doesn't mean the allergy isnt serious

My child had non IGE allergies, including CMPA (cows milk protein allergy) to the point where me accidentally taking a sip of milk in my coffee then breastfeeding him could cause a reaction.

The reaction would take a few hours to develop, then he would begin vomiting, stomach pain, the runs, and finally a horrible rash. He would be in agony for days and at risk of severe dehydration due to the amounth of vomiting and diarrhea. It made him really sick.

Thank you for ensuring the parent knew what had happened. I wouldn't be surprised if child was unable to attend nursery for a few days, the reactions can take a few hours to begin.

Parents were phoned (whether that would have happend if not reported). All the staff in the room that day were out in the garden so when I said child had the milk and said what was on the allergy action plan so everyone was there to know it happend.

I do worry about the future of early years with some of the staff working 🙈

I would have given her the opportunity to note the mistake in the daily report or I would ask her when she is going to record the incident before I told the boss. If she failed to report the mistake, I’d escalate in writing before catching the boss on the way to the kitchen.

She just didn't seem to care and continued to serve snack to the remaining children!

purposely poisoning a child ?? Calm down
shes just young and ignorant and is lacking training

sooo dramatic

You can’t tell how she felt about it. Some people deal with things calmly, others get stressed, some come across as unbothered.
Next time, give them a chance to follow procedures before speaking to the boss, you are not a supervisor, if there is no incident book or daily report cards being issued then tell your manager that she needs to manage properly and ensure protocols are followed. The manager sounds like she’s not capable with if the basic daily reports are not being done.

If this has happened multiple times then I think more training needs to be done. It’s children’s wellbeing and lives here that could be affected, it’s not like they’re putting the wrong price label on a shelf it’s something that can have serious consequences and it’s disappointing to see your management not doing anything about it!

It sounds more like attitude is the problem than training.

if the management don’t care then staff are less likely to take it seriously as well.

@Pinkpony123were the child’s parents informed?

You can feel guilty over an accident, just because there’s guilt it doesn’t mean it was done with intent

Exactly if the management don’t seem to care they won’t be drilling it in to staff how important it is. There is always a way to go higher in these settings to report incidents

The child doesn't have an allergy.
A proportion of all humans are intolerant of cows milk, it's not an allergy or an illness.
Parents exagerrating will dilute concern for true allergy.

They didn’t follow procedure hence why Op went to management. There is incident reports and accident reports that can be filled out, the staff need to use them and yes the manager needs to enforce the use of them if not being used. There is also a picture of each child on the wall with their needs on it and there is an allergy action plan. Did you even read any of OPs post?