Staff expressed that at times they felt overloaded with demands and/or had limited resources to respond appropriately to unpredictable situations of enteric illness. In these situations, they required flexibility in how they provided care and what actions they took. Staff discussed their use of judgment and previous experience in consideration with guidance provided by public health officials to make appropriate decisions. Staff had different forms of education and varying experiences. This attribute influenced how staff worked with children and managed enteric illness and outbreaks. Although experience could assist in making judgments, experienced staff indicated their personal judgments of diarrhea and how they responded to situations varied. This was in part due to the uncertainty associated with how to define diarrhea. New or inexperienced staff required training by more experienced staff to assist with decision-making. Although policies and guidance related to management of enteric illness are provided to the centre as a whole, staff reported that modification took place on a situation specific basis. This was reported by staff when they felt that the procedures and guidelines were inflexible or differed from a situation that they experienced. In some cases, staff actions varied from what they knew, leaving the individual staff member with a great deal of responsibility in deciding what to respond to and when.