Child Life Specialist-Per Diem

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, normalizing the hospital environment, facilitating special events, and providing 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.
• Create effective relationships with individuals of different cultural beliefs and lifestyles.
• Observe, assess, and record symptoms, reactions and progress.
• Maintain emotional stability to cope with human suffering, emergencies and other stresses.
• Maintain confidentiality of information.
• Create and implement therapeutic programs and make individual modifications.
• Lead and train staff and/or students in child development theory and practice.
• Draw upon experience from pre-admission tours, pre-procedural teaching, pre-operational teaching, playroom programs, play and art therapy, and sibling support.

Requirements

The position requires a Bachelor’s degree in Child Life, Child Development or a directly related field in behavioral sciences or human development. A 600-hour Child Life Internship is also required. A Master’s degree is preferred. A Certified Child Life Specialist certification from the Association of Child Life Professionals (ACLP) is required within one year of hire. Nonviolent Crisis Intervention training certification is required within one year of hire and must be maintained thereafter.

Qualifications

• Knowledge of basic knowledge and understanding of the medical conditions and healthcare experiences of specific patient populations.
• Knowledge of clinical operations policies and procedures; documentation and patient record policies and standards.
• In-depth knowledge of child development theory and practice.
• Therapeutic play activities and materials; teaching techniques; identification of learning needs and provision of patient/family education.
• Legal and ethical issues related to patient rights.
• Crisis intervention techniques.
• Strong interpersonal and communication (verbal and written) skills and the ability to work effectively with a wide range of constituencies in a diverse community.
• Basic proficiency in utilizing personal computers in a networked Windows-based health care environment to access related software applications; locating, opening, editing and printing files and information utilized by the unit; and using the Internet as a research tool.

Skills

• Ability to create effective relationships with individuals of different cultural beliefs and lifestyles.
• Ability to observe, assess, and record symptoms, reactions and progress.
• Ability to maintain emotional stability to cope with human suffering, emergencies and other stresses.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality of information.
• Ability to create and implement therapeutic programs and make individual modifications.
• Ability to lead and train staff and/or students in child development theory and practice.
• Ability to draw upon experience from pre-admission tours, pre-procedural teaching, pre-operational teaching, playroom programs, play and art therapy, and sibling support.

Benefits

Details about benefits are not specified in this job description.

Pay

Details about pay are not specified in this job description.

Schedule

The position is M-W-F 10:30am – 7pm with the option to pick up additional child life shifts as available.