Child Life Specialist NICU

About the role

Interacts directly with pediatric patients, families and other health team members and facilitates age-appropriate interactions and activities to help make the health care experience easier for patients and families. Reduces patient and family distress, increases effective patient and family coping, fosters patient independence, and promotes optimum development. Provides supervision to volunteers, child life pre‑internship students and child life assistants. This position supports the NICU (Newborn Intensive Care Unit) Level IV – 51‑bed unit at Intermountain Health Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah, working as part of a multidisciplinary team providing advanced care for premature and critically ill newborns.

Responsibilities

• Accurately assesses, prioritizes, and documents pediatric patient and family care
• Develops, implements, and evaluates effective pediatric patient and family centered health care plans
• Provides developmentally appropriate education, psychological procedural preparation, coping support, comfort management, and play opportunities, to pediatric patients and families
• Participates in selection, supervision, and training of new hires, students and volunteers
• Provides education for staff (e.g., in‑services, newsletter articles, etc.)
• Assists with community outreach and Foundation partnerships
• Adheres to Association of Child Life Professionals (ACLP) Child Life Code of Ethics
• Meets requirements outlined in child life department expectations

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree from an