Medical Release Forms for Babysitters

Though it is unlikely that a doctor would withhold emergency care in a dangerous situation because of a lack of parental consent, it is still a good idea to prepare medical release forms for babysitters if leaving your babies in someone else's care. Physicians may withhold care to babies for hurts that are not dangerous out of fear of a potential lawsuit from brings up.

Medical Release Forms Explained

A medical release form is a document you sign that grants permission to a nanny to look for medical assistance for your minor child or children. This form is necessary since some physicians and other medical personnel will decline to treat a child if permission from the parent or legal custodial has not been plainly stated.

Even if your child or children are left in the care of another adult relative - such as an uncle or grandmother - doctors may still decline treatment until the parent is reached.

Pertinent Information

Include information on medical release forms for sitters that may help the medical personnel in treating your child or children until you can be contacted:

    * Your name
    * The name of your child or children
    * The name of the babysitter
    * A statement that grants permission to the nanny to look for medical care for your child or children along with any qualifying details
    * Contact information where you can be touched
    * Insurance information:
          o Name of insurer
          o Policy number
          o Copy of insurance card, if applicable
    * A list of the child's or children's medications
    * A list of the child's or children's allergies
    * Any other pertinent medical information, like diseases or recurring sicknesses
    * Name and contact information of the child's or children's chief physician

Some parents take the forms a step further and have the forms notarised, but in most cases it is adequate to simply have a witness sign the form. In the other side, you want the release form to appear as clear as possible to the fact that you grant permission for any necessary medical care. Keep the form brief, but include all information that may be necessary.

Accessibility to Babysitter

Don't go to all the trouble of making a medical release form for your child's or children's sitter without ever letting the nanny know that the form exists. You should position the form in a common place when you are away from home. If your nanny habitually takes your child or children out of the home, then he or she should carry a copy of the form whenever outside the home.

You should also take the time to have a serious talk with the sitter as to what the form indicates. If you don't want your nanny to take your child or children in to see a physician if the problem is minor - like an earache or a skinned knee - then make clear this. Remember that this form gives blanket authority to your nanny to look for needed medical care which you will be financially reponsible for, so you need to specify the situations that merit a trip to the doctor and which situations should be faced to upon your return.

Besides placing the release form in a common place, you should also place a map or written directions to the nearest medical facility from your house for your babysitter's use.

Find Medical Release Forms for Babysitters Online

A lot of parenting and other websites provide sample medical release forms for sitters completely for free. Though the wording you choose for your forms may be slightly different than the forms you see online, make sure to include adequate information so your child or children can receive medical care in case of an emergency.

Here is a brief list of some websites online providing free samples and templates for this significant document:

    * RogerKnapp.com
    * DocStoc.com
    * BestNanny.com

There are a lot of other websites providing similar samples of medical release forms suitable for babysitters. A quick Internet search will yield a lot of appropriate results.