Child Life Specialist NICU

13800 Primary Childrens Hospital; United States; On-site; USD 33,000 - 52,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Sign-On Bonus

Benefits package

Job summary

Intermountain Health Primary Childrens Hospital is seeking a Child Life Specialist to interact with pediatric patients and families, provide education, and guide therapeutic play. This role supports the NICU Level IV unit and works within a multidisciplinary team.

The position requires a Bachelor's degree, ACLP certification within 15 months, and prior pediatric patient experience. A $3,000 sign-on bonus is offered to new hires and a comprehensive benefits package is provided.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution; degree will be verified.
• ACLP Child Life Certification required within 15 months of hire.
• Experience with pediatric patients in medical, hospital or behavioral health settings.

Responsibilities

• Assess, prioritize, and document pediatric patient and family care.
• Develop, implement, and evaluate patient- and family-centered care plans.
• Provide education and coping support; document clinical care.

Skills

Communication

Documentation

Critical thinking

Teamwork

Spanish speaking

Growth mindset

Taking initiative

Education

Bachelor's degree

ACLP Child Life Certification

600-hour internship supervised by a child life specialist

Tools

Word processing

Spreadsheets

Databases

Job description

Job Description:

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. $3000 Sign-On Bonus for new hires.

Posting Specifics

Pay Rate: Based on experience.

Shift Details: Full-time (40 hours/week) Monday - Friday (8:30am - 5:00pm)

Additional Details: This position will support the NICU (Newborn Intensive Care Unit) Level IV - 51 bed unit. Be part of the multidisciplinary team providing the highest and most advanced levels of specialized medical care available for premature and critically ill newborns.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree.
• Education must be obtained from an accredited institution.
• Degree will be verified.
• Documentation of a successfully completed 600-hour internship supervised by a child life specialist Child Life Certification from Association of Child Life Professionals (ACLP) is required within 15 months of hire.
• Experience with pediatric patients in a medical, hospital or behavioral health setting
• Experience in Child Life Core Competencies which include but are not limited to 1) Establishing supportive relationships 2) Meeting needs of child and family members, with a focus on social, emotional, and cognitive development. 3) Providing education to and communicating with children, families, and team members 4) Providing coping support and comfort management 5) Guiding children in therapeutic play techniques 6) Ongoing assessment and written documentation of clinical care
• Computer experience in word processing, spreadsheets, and databases or similar applications.

Preferred Qualifications

• One year experience with pediatric patients in a medical, hospital or behavioral health setting.
• Work experience as a child life assistant
• Experience as a child life pre‑internship/practicum student
• Supervising volunteers while working with children and adolescents
• Spanish speaking

Essential Functions

• 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
• Skills Pediatrics
• Training and mentoring
• Writing documentation
• Communication
• Relationship building
• Taking initiative
• Critical thinking
• Teamwork
• Growth Mindset
• Accountability

Physical Requirements

• Frequent interactions with patient care providers, patients, and visitors that require employee to verbally communicate as well as hear and understand spoken information, alarms, needs, and assess issues quickly and accurately, particularly during emergency situations to maintain safety
• Ongoing need for employee to see and read information, documents, monitors, identify equipment and supplies, and be able to assess customer needs.
• Manual dexterity of hands and fingers to manipulate complex and delicate equipment with precision and accuracy. This includes frequent computer use for typing, accessing needed information, etc.
• Expected to lift and utilize full range of movement to transfer patients. Will also bend to retrieve, lift, and carry supplies and equipment. Typically includes items of varying weights, up to and including heavy items.
• May be expected to stand in a stationary position for an extended period of time.

Location

Intermountain Health Primary Childrens Hospital

Work City: Salt Lake City

Work State: Utah

Scheduled Weekly Hours: 40

The hourly range for this position is listed below. Actual hourly rate dependent upon experience. $24.30 - $37.52

We care about your well-being – mind, body, and spirit – which is why we provide our caregivers a generous benefits package that covers a wide range of programs to foster a sustainable culture of wellness that encompasses living healthy, happy, secure, connected, and engaged.

By applying for a position with Intermountain, I acknowledge that I will comply with all applicable Intermountain policies and expectations. If applying for a remote or hybrid role, this includes remote work expectations related to confidentiality, information security, work schedules, conflicts of interest, and use of company equipment. I further acknowledge that outside employment or activities may not interfere with job responsibilities or create a conflict of interest with Intermountain. Actual or reasonably perceived conflicts may be grounds for disqualification from consideration or, if hired, corrective action up to and including termination of employment.

Intermountain Health is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status.

At Intermountain Health, we use the artificial intelligence ("AI") platform, HiredScore to improve your job application experience. HiredScore helps match your skills and experiences to the best jobs for you. While HiredScore assists in reviewing applications, all final decisions are made by Intermountain personnel to ensure fairness. We protect your privacy and follow strict data protection rules. Your information is safe and used only for recruitment. Thank you for considering a career with us and experiencing our AI‑enhanced recruitment process. All positions subject to close without notice.

Headquartered in Utah with locations in six primary states and additional operations across the western U.S., Intermountain Health is a nonprofit system of 34 hospitals, 400+ clinics, a medical group of more than 4,800 employed physicians and advanced care providers, a health plan division called Select Health with more than one million members, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is widely recognized as a leader in clinical quality improvement and efficient healthcare delivery. Join our world‑class team and embark on a career filled with opportunities, strength, innovation, and fulfillment.

Intermountain Health’s PEAK program supports caregivers in the pursuit of their education goals and career aspirations by providing up‑front tuition coverage paid directly to the academic institution. The program offers 100+ learning options to choose from, including undergraduate studies, high school diplomas, and professional skills and certificates. Caregivers are eligible to participate in PEAK on day 1 of employment. Learn more.

The primary intent of this job description is to set a fair and equitable rate of pay for this classification. Only those key duties necessary for proper job evaluation and/or labor market analysis have been included. Other duties may be assigned by the supervisor. All positions subject to close without notice.

Thanks for your interest in continuing your career with our team!