Child Life Specialist- 24 hrs

About the role

This position supports our behavioral health population on our Integrated Care Unit and Behavioral Health Unit in the Emergency Department. The role involves providing psychosocial support, promoting positive coping, procedural preparation and support, normalizing the hospital environment, facilitating special events, and providing group and 1:1 activities.

Responsibilities

• Provide psychosocial support, promote positive coping, procedural preparation and support, normalize the hospital environment, facilitate special events, and provide group and 1:1 activities.
• Assess needs of children and their families taking into consideration each child’s family, culture and stage of development.
• Develop and implement activities, resources and programs to meet patient/family needs.
• Minimize stress and anxiety for patient by providing developmentally appropriate opportunities (in activity rooms and at bedside) that encourage expression of feelings and promote a sense of mastery and understanding of health care experiences.
• Maintain appropriate supply of therapeutic materials.
• Prepare children and families for and provide support during tests, surgeries or other medical procedures through education, tours, rehearsal and coping skills development.
• Promote and support parental role.
• Effectively communicate observations, assessments and recommendations for care to other members of healthcare team (through verbal and written channels).
• Accurately document care, and services provided following established policies and procedures.
• Advocate for patient and family needs; and activate appropriate services/referrals.
• Assists in the maintenance of a safe and therapeutic patient care environment.
• Participates in quality improvement activities.
• Actively participates on inter-disciplinary teams and committees.
• Develop and maintain own knowledge and understanding of the medical conditions and healthcare experiences of specific patient populations.
• Develop resources and provide education for medical center staff; may develop and provide education and resources for community providers regarding developmental needs of children.
• Orient, supervise and provide input into the evaluation of Child Life students, interns and hospital volunteers.
• Participate in continual professional development.
• Provide age-appropriate emotional support and education, in collaboration with the health care team, for parents and families surrounding issues of end-of-life care, grief and loss; facilitate memory-making activities relative to family’s cultural and traditional practices.
• Assess the support needs of siblings, both indirectly, through parent report, and directly, through observation and therapeutic interactions.
• Provide teaching and support regarding surgery and/or procedures, orientation to the hospital environment (i.e. visits to the PICU, NICU), bereavement support and ongoing assessment / support for siblings of chronic and critically ill patients.
• Offer support/education to parents and other caregivers regarding both normal behaviors of siblings and those that might indicate a need for further interventions.
• Offer age-appropriate opportunities for siblings to participate in certain aspects of the hospitalization, such as decorating the patient's room, or working on a special project with their hospitalized sibling.
• Demonstrate knowledge of the age-related differences and needs of patients in appropriate, specific populations from neonate through adolescence and apply them to practice.
• Demonstrate cultural sensitivity in all interactions with patients/families.
• Demonstrate support for the mission, values and goals of the organization through behaviors that are consistent with the Connecticut Children's Standard.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in child Life, Child Development or directly related field in behavioral sciences or human development required.
• 600-hour Child Life Internship required.
• Master’s degree preferred.
• Certified Child Life Specialist, issued through Association of Child Life Professionals (ACLP), within one year of hire.
• Nonviolent Crisis Intervention training certification required within one year of hire and maintained thereafter.