Child Life Specialist Per Diem

Provides expert psychosocial, emotional, developmental, and educational support to pediatric patients and their families. Prepares patients for medical experiences and develops individualized treatment plans to reduce the stress and trauma associated with illness, injury, diagnosis, and hospitalization. Promotes coping, resilience, and wellbeing, and helps normalize the hospital environment to support growth and development. Collaborates with members of the interdisciplinary healthcare team, and orients and supervises pediatric volunteers and child life interns.

• Performs thorough assessments of patient and family psychosocial, developmental, and educational needs; considers cultural, family systems, and developmental backgrounds.
• Explains medical procedures and treatments in developmentally appropriate ways; educates children/families on new diagnoses (e.g., chronic illnesses) using appropriate teaching materials. Engages children in therapeutic medical play.
• Provides support during medical procedures using distraction techniques, comfort positioning, emotional support, and breathing/relaxation techniques.
• Facilitates a variety of activities to promote developmental growth. Uses behavior modification to support compliance with meeting discharge goals. Assists in maintaining daily/weekly routines for long‑term patients.
• Promotes emotional support, education, and guidance to families at the end of life to help children understand the dying process and cope with loss.
• Participates in interdisciplinary rounds, and collaborates with nursing, physicians, social work, etc.; advocates for child/family needs; may represent child life services in a hospital committee.
• Coordinates or facilitates special events and special visitors to support normal traditions and enhance a sense of control and wellbeing in pediatric patients.
• Orients, trains, supervises, and evaluates child life practicum students and pediatric volunteers.
• Documents assessments, interventions and outcomes; evaluates effectiveness of interventions and adjusts plans of care as needed. Records in the electronic medical record.
• Provides in‑service training to assigned unit about child life, child development, and/or coping strategies. Maintains therapeutic resources specific to assigned unit.
• Participates in community or hospital programs to promote child life and emotional safety of pediatric patients. Represents TMCH in community as a positive and professional team member.
• Adheres to and supports team members in exhibiting TMCH values of integrity, community, compassion, and dedication.
• Adheres to TMCH organizational and department‑specific safety and confidentiality policies and standards.
• Provides coverage for other child life staff as needed, and performs related duties as assigned.

EDUCATION: Bachelor’s degree (B.A. or B.S.) from four‑year College or University required, preferably in one of the following fields of study:
Psychology, Human Development and Family Studies, child life studies.

EXPERIENCE: 600-hour clinical child life internship under the supervision of a certified child life specialist required.

LICENSURE OR CERTIFICATION: Must be eligible for Child Life Specialist Certification and must obtain Child Life Specialist Certification within one (1 year of hire. Current Basic Life Support (BLS) certification required.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES:

• Excellent communication, interpersonal, and listening skills; ability to explain complex medical/treatment information in an age‑appropriate manner.
• Strong organization, planning, and problem‑solving skills; ability to manage multiple patients or tasks simultaneously.
• Emotional resilience and ability to handle the stress of working with children and families in crisis, illness, and death.
• Ability to adapt interventions to developmental level, family systems, and cultural considerations.
• Creativity and resourcefulness in designing play, educational materials, and coping interventions.
li>Competence with documentation, use of hospital information systems, and ability to evaluate outcomes.
• Ability to speak effectively before groups of customers or employees of organization.
• Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide using whole numbers, common fractions and decimals.
• Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists.
• Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.

All other responsibilities that may be performed as assigned.