Daycare providers are responsible for maintaining a healthy environment for children. Part of this responsibility may entail requiring sick children to be cared for outside the facility. This policy helps protect the caregivers and other children from illness, but also keeps the sick child from sustaining uncomfortable levels of activity during illness. State laws don't allow licensed centers and home daycare facilities to supervise children running a temperature over 100 degrees or with signs of a possibly communicable disease such as chicken pox or measles, unless it's also licensed as a sick-care facility. If not, sick children need to be separated from the other children until they can be picked up. Due to an increased need for commercial care of sick children, some states are creating guidelines for operating areas strictly for ill children. These are sometimes called 'get-well areas.' While available state guidelines differ, all include the separation of sick children and their caregivers from well children and other staff members. Some regulations require a written evaluation of the child's condition on a regular basis, while other's simply mandate the child's temperature be recorded. A few states requre a pediatric or family-practice doctor serve as an advisor for the center's health policy, and that a licensed nurse must be on duty at all times.
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