When in a childcare setting it is vital to maintain confidentiality in different areas not just for the Child’s welfare but the families as well! Confidential information must not be shared outside of the setting E.G family or friends. The following examples are to be kept confidential; enrolment forms, family’s health insurance information, health screenings and records, including immunization records, emergency contact information, contact information for those authorized to pick up child, emergency care consent forms , consent forms (permission slips) for outings or special activities, names of regular medical or dental providers who know the child, nutritional restrictions, progress reports, child observation logs, parent conference logs, medication logs, documentation of medical, behavioural or developmental evaluations, referrals or follow-ups, addressing issues relevant to the child’s participation in the program, documentation of any injury occurring at the program site and the steps taken to address the situation.
While the rights and desires of families to keep their personal details private are important, there are also some circumstances under which identifying information should be shared for example; Program staff and the “need to know (might have a dietary or medical requirements so the cook or nurse will need to know) Outbreaks of reportable illness or Outbreaks of reportable illness as the information might be vital and used to saved the children’s life or keep them healthy.
One way to differentiate whether the information is confidential or not would be to think “Is this common knowledge or do I know it because my position in the setting” as all children, families and young people have a right to confidentiality. So always ask your supervisor if you aren’t sure about what information is appropriate to disclose to different people. In addition all information needs to be