I would love to get some honest opinions from either nursery nurses or nursery managers if possible. I posted on another website a couple of weeks ago but forgot my password!
So, I’ve been on trial in a nursery for around a month now, still settling in and finding my feet. It didn’t get off to the greatest start and I even wanted to leave at one point (was offered an interview elsewhere, turned it down and then when I asked about it again the vacancy had been closed). At this point I decided to stay as I felt I hadn’t given it a proper chance plus there wasn’t any other jobs available in my local area. A month into it now and there’s just so many things that I can’t get on board with.
First of all it’s more important to them that the place looks like a 5 star hotel rather than the children having a nice time and enjoying themselves. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing as hygiene is important and I know this but the children aren’t even aloud to walk around the room (especially toddlers) as and I quote because “it looks messy if a parent walks in and the children are all over the room” so we literally have to keep them on a mat all day. When I first started my job was to literally keep picking the children up and putting them back on the mat when they moved. I understand if they were in danger e.g climbing the steps or sitting by the door when someone could walk in but surely we can’t keep children to one confined space all day and they should be able to explore and move around??
We’re also not aloud to tell parents if their child has been upset or unsettled as “parents have been in work all day they don’t want to hear that”. I understand if a child has just cried/winged for no reason but shouldn’t we be honest with parents if their child has genuinely been unsettled?
Another thing (which I really really can’t understand and I have tried to) is that they don’t wipe children at nappy changes if their only wet. So a child could wee 7 times a day and not get wiped, surely this would cause a nappy rash? The reason we can’t use wipes on wet nappies is because parents don’t bring in their own (told not to by the nursery) so the nursery have to provide them but they want to save on money costs. I just followed their instructions as I really couldn’t be bothered with the confrontation (even though I’ve spoken to friends with children and they’ve all said they’ve never heard of it and they wouldn’t be happy with it if it was their child). The final straw, personally for me was when I was changing a soiled nappy yesterday and was told “nicely” not to wear gloves if I can help it, as again, because of money costs. When I pointed out hygiene reasons they said “oh just wash your hands afterwards”.
Other things that niggle me are that they don’t provide a staff rota so I literally haven’t got a clue what I’m working from one week to the next which makes it very difficult to plan things outside of work.
Am I mad to think they should be promoting wearing gloves and not trying to cut costs? I’ve noticed none of the staff, even the manager wear gloves or any sort of protection to change nappies. At this point I thought it’s their personal choice if they don’t want to wear them but surely I shouldn’t be punished for wanting to?
I understand not every job is perfect and when it comes to nurseries I do think you have to find one that suits you as their all ran so differently 🤔
I have an interview on Tuesday for a job in another nursery but just wanted to check am I being unreasonable or are they wrong? I just can’t get on board with some of their practices.
TIA