Certified Child Life Specialist

Geisinger; Pennsylvania; On-site; USD 50,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a compassionate Child Life Specialist to join their team. This role involves working directly with children to help them navigate the healthcare environment, reducing anxiety, and providing emotional support. You will develop tailored strategies and educate families on coping mechanisms, ensuring a therapeutic environment for young patients. With a strong commitment to professional development and a supportive team, this position offers a fulfilling opportunity to make a significant impact on children's lives during challenging times. Join a community that values your contributions and supports your growth!

Benefits

Health, dental, and vision benefits

401(k) plan with contributions

Generous paid time off

Tuition reimbursement

Employee Assistance Program

Wellness program

Short-term and long-term disability coverage

Family-friendly support

Voluntary benefits

Qualifications

• Completed a Child Life Internship of at least 600 hours under supervision.
• Bachelor's degree in Child Development, Education, or Psychology is required.

Responsibilities

• Evaluate children's developmental stages and emotional states.
• Develop and implement strategies to reduce fear and anxiety in children.
• Educate families on coping strategies and healthcare processes.

Skills

Child Life Internship

Child Development

Education

Psychology

Coping Strategies

Patient Education

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Child Development

Bachelor’s Degree in Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology

Job description

*Join our team and receive up to a $5,000 joining bonus, plus, relocation assistance for qualified candidates.

Career Ladder Opportunities - Apply today to learn More!

Position Details:

To learn more about Geisinger's Janet Weis Children's Hospital Child Life Services, please visit: Geisinger Child Life Services

• Evaluates child's developmental stage, ability to understand and cope with the health care environment, temperament and emotional state.
• Develops a strategic plan to reduce the fear and anxiety a child experiences with the health care environment.
• Implements specialized services to best meet the individual child's needs including: medical play, preparation for procedures, operations or other medical events, teaching and implementing coping strategies, providing education about disease process and treatment to both the child and their family.
• Identifies patient and family coping strategies in daily routine and applies these strategies to assist patients and their families in coping with the stress of hospitalization, illness, death, and loss.
• Educates patient, family, and staff to other techniques to aid a child in coping and ensures technique is age appropriate for the development, and emotional state of the child.
• Assists in the implementation of such techniques, monitors its effectiveness and alters the plan as necessary.
• Responsible for leading the child, staff and family through coping strategies during medical procedures.
• Educates and prepares patients and their families for medical procedures, disease processes and mastery of the healthcare environment using appropriate and therapeutic play activities as treatment tools.
• Interprets and communicates patient's perception of diagnosis and treatment as revealed through play and other means of communication, both verbal and nonverbal, to staff and family.
• Integrates Child Life services by providing consultation to other health care workers regarding developmental and behavioral issues which impact on patient care.
• Creates, implements and orients other health care staff to age appropriate behavior reward methods to promote a patient's adaptation to treatment and encourage patient cooperation.
• Creates and distributes resources about child health and safety in general as needed.
• Assures therapeutic and safe environments for individual and group play.
• Selects, purchases and maintains the safety and cleanliness of toys, games, and other equipment used in the play areas to comply with departmental infection control policies and procedures.
• Documents Child Life interventions in the patient's medical record in accordance with Geisinger policies and procedures.
• Participates in record keeping of vital statistics for the Child Life Department demonstrating which Child Life services have been provided to patients.
• Educates, and acts as a resource for, health care professionals regarding the psychosocial issues of pediatric health care, and the impact of illness, injury, and hospitalization on patients and their families.
• Develops and schedules in-services as needed for multidisciplinary team members and community groups.
• Interviews, orients, coordinates, schedules and supervises Child Life volunteers in their daily work with patients in all patient care areas.

Work is typically performed in a clinical environment. Accountable for satisfying all job specific obligations and complying with all organization policies and procedures. The specific statements in this profile are not intended to be all-inclusive. They represent typical elements considered necessary to successfully perform the job. Additional competencies and skills outlined in any department-specific orientation will be considered essential to the performance of the job related to that position.

Minimum Requirements:

• Has completed a Child Life Internship (minimum 600 hours) under the direct supervision of a Certified Child Life Specialist - is required.
• Minimum of a bachelor’s degree in Child Development, Education, or Psychology.
• Required to be eligible for professional certification by the Association of Child Life Professionals.
• Membership to The Association of Child Life Professional and Certification Annual maintenance fees provided by Department.
• As a part of a teaching institution, this department provides an ACLP accredited internship and supervises practicum students.

Benefits of working at Geisinger:

• Full benefits (health, dental and vision) starting on day one.
• Three medical plan choices, including an expanded network for out-of-area employees and dependents.
• Pre-tax savings plans with healthcare and dependent care flexible spending accounts (FSA) and a health savings account (HSA).
• Company-paid life insurance, short-term disability, and long-term disability coverage.
• 401(k) plan that includes automatic Geisinger contributions.
• Generous paid time off (PTO) plan that allows you to accrue time quickly.
• Up to $5,000 in tuition reimbursement per calendar year.
• MyHealth Rewards wellness program to improve your health while earning a financial incentive.
• Family-friendly support including adoption and fertility assistance, parental leave pay, military leave pay and a free Care.com membership with discounted backup care for your loved ones.
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP): Referrals for childcare, eldercare, & pet care. Access free legal guidance, mental health visits, work-life support, digital self-help tools and more.
• Voluntary benefits including accident, critical illness, hospital indemnity insurance, identity theft protection, universal life and pet and legal insurance.

Join the Geisinger Family! Apply now! To learn more about this Geisinger opportunity, please contact Polly Zech ([e-mail])