Child Care Nurse Consultant

Healthy Child Care Iowa, part of the Iowa Department of Public Health, supports the Child Care Nurse Consultant (CCNC) program. CCNC's are registered nurses who are experts in child health, child care, and child safety. CCNC's assist and support child care and early education providers to meet Iowa and national health and safety standards by providing on-site (and virtual) visits, technical assistance, training and care planning for children with special health needs. Providers may call or send questions to a CCNC about health and safety policies, health records, health resources and specific child health or safety concerns.

Services provided by Child Care Nurse Consultants (CCNC) are FREE to providers in Iowa.
For more information on Healthy Child Care Iowa, visit the Iowa Department of Public Health website here.
For information on how to contact the Child Care Nurse Consultant (CCNC) nearest to you, click here.

Eligibility

Who is eligible for types of CCNC Services?

Resources

CCNC services are for everybody!

Child Care Center (CCC)
Child Development Home (CDH)
Nonregistered Child Care Home accepting Child Care Assistance (CCHA)
Department of Education Preschool
Afterschool Program
Head Start Program
Parents
Public

CCNC's can assist with the following:

Health and safety checklist
Care planning and inclusion for children with special needs
Health and safety policies
Illness prevention and control
Child health record checkup
Immunization information
Medication management
Social-emotional health
Playground safety
Injury prevention
Environmental safety
Nutrition and physical activity
Oral/dental health
Health education activities for children
and more!

Printed Products

HCCI offers best practices to assist providers in offering quality child care to Iowa's children.

Resources

HCCI Printed Materials Link - You can visit the Healthy Child Care Iowa website to download posters, brochures and forms to print yourself or you can contact your local Child Care Nurse Consultant for copies. Some examples of the resources available from HCCI include:

Asthma Action Plan: a form that you may use when care planning for a child with asthma.
Breastfeeding Support: a fact sheet on the importance of supporting breastfeeding; includes information on storage and handling guidelines.
Child Care Weather Watch: a poster that provides information on weather and when it is safe for children to play outside.
Child Health Exam: a form meets Iowa's child care regulations that require an annual physical exam for the young child.
Common Child Illnesses and Exclusion Criteria: a fact sheet that provides guidance for exclusion of children with signs and symptoms of illness or disease (including COVID-19).
Diapering Poster: a full-color, illustrated procedure for diapering in child care.
Food Allergy Action Plan: a form that you can use for care planning for a child who has a food allergy.
Head Lice: a brochure that provides tips and treatment information about head lice, as recommended by the Iowa Department of Public Health.
Monthly Medicine Report: a form that you can use to document medication given to children while at care.

HCCI Talkline

Call the talkline for health-related questions

Resources

800-369-2229 - toll-free talkline for families and child care providers for health-related questions or to be connected with one of Iowa's child care nurse consultants.

Child care providers are encouraged to inform families about the talkline. Families may use the talkline for confidential health information and referral. Multiple language interpretation is available.