ABOUT SICK HAPPENS
Sick Happens is a childhood illness education platform founded by Penny Blunden. A Masters-qualified Paediatric Nurse, mum of two, and the person quietly making sick days less terrifying for families, educators and organisations across Australia, and beyond.Â
HOWÂ SICK HAPPENS HELPS
Every arm of Sick Happens solves the same problem, but from a different angle.
FOR FAMILIES
You're tired of googling at midnight and coming out more confused than when you started. Sick Happens teaches you what to look for, what it means, and what to do next, so you're Sick Day Ready before the next inevitable sick day arrives.
FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS
You're managing sick children, distressed families and competing policies, every single day. Managing Illness in Early Childhood Education picks up where first aid stops, and gives your team the frameworks, confidence and consistency to handle whatever walks through the door.
FORÂ ORGANISATIONS
You want to do more for the families and educators you serve. Sick Happens works with organisations whose mission intersects with improving outcomes for children, through education consultancy, embedded partnerships and education sponsorship.
THE PROBLEM NO ONE OWNS
And nobody has connected the dots between them. Until now.
FAMILIES
DROWNING IN INFORMATION, STARVING FOR UNDERSTANDING
You know what a fever is. You aren't exactly clear what to do at midnight when your child has one, won't take any medicine and Google is sending you somewhere unhelpful.
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS
MANAGING ILLNESS WITH NO FORMAL TRAINING
First aid, anaphylaxis and child protection management are all mandated. But everyday illness (the thing that happens in every centre, every day) lives in a regulatory grey zone.
ORGANISATIONS
WANTING TO HELP, NOT SURE HOW TO DO IT WELL
Good information and good education are not the same thing. The gap isn't a content problem. It's an education architecture problem.
All of these three groups want the same thing. They just need someone to help them get there.
That's what Sick Happens is for.
THE FOUNDER OF SICK HAPPENSÂ
I'm a Masters-qualified Paediatric Nurse with 15+ years of clinical experience across paediatric ED, food allergy research, Telehealth and beyond. I've sat with thousands of families in some of their most frightening moments.
And I have two boys of my own. Which means I've also sat on the other side of that equation â the exhausted parent googling things I absolutely know better than to google at midnight.
I built Sick Happens because the gap between having information and confidently using it when your child is sick is enormous. And nobody was filling it.
This isn't about turning families into clinicians or educators into nurses. It's about giving everyone who cares for sick children the knowledge, frameworks and confidence to handle it, calmly, clearly and without the chaos.
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PENNY BLUNDEN
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Founder, Sick Happens
Childhood Illness Educator
Education Architect
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
Across every arm of Sick Happens, the feedback says the same thing.
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"I've been a paediatric GP for 15 years, spending so much time working with anxious parents to help them through their kids' illnesses â and I cannot fault or improve on a single word of the advice you so generously share."
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"I feel like a completely different mum this year with winter coming around. You make me want to stand on a chair and clap."
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"The course for educators is different to any other professional development opportunity I've experienced. Engaging, informative, and gives clarity that builds on topics that first aid only touches on."
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"You hit this sweet spot of expertise, accessibility and specificity that even those with a medical background find genuinely valuable."
