Child Life Specialist - PRN

denverhealth; Denver (CO); On-site; USD 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Denver Health is seeking a Child Life Specialist I (PRN) to support pediatric patients and their families. The role focuses on emotional and developmental needs, using play and developmentally appropriate education to reduce stress during medical care.

Collaboration with a multidisciplinary team across ambulatory, emergency, and inpatient settings is essential. Requires a Bachelor's degree, BLS/CPR, and eligibility for CCLS certification.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required.
• Two years of experience as a Certified Child Life Specialist in a hospital setting preferred.
• Eligible for CCLS certification or CLS - ACLP; BLS/CPR required.

Responsibilities

• Develops a plan of care addressing the needs of the child and family.
• Provides psychological preparation for procedures using expressive/medical play to reduce stress.
• Uses developmental/therapeutic play to support coping and understanding of health care experiences.
• Communicates with families and staff to ensure clear information and best interests of the patient.
• Documents services in the patient chart and updates as care plans change.

Skills

Active Listening

Child Life knowledge

Communication skills

Critical Thinking

Customer Service

Developing Objectives

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Job description

We are recruiting for a mission-driven Child Life Specialist - PRN to join our team! We're with you for life's journey. At Denver Health, purpose isn't just something we believe in-it's something we live every day, for life's journey.

Our Values

Respect | Belonging | Accountability | Transparency

Department

Child Life Program

Job Summary

The Child Life Specialist I (\"Specialist\") is a key member of the pediatric healthcare team. The Specialist, under general supervision, works in a health care setting focusing on the emotional and developmental needs of children and their families.

The Specialist reduces stress associated with the health care experience and enables a child and their family to cope by providing play experiences, presenting medical information in a way that children can understand, and encouraging family involvement in the child's medical care.

The Specialist routinely works in collaboration with a multi-disciplinary healthcare team and other professionals in ambulatory care, emergency care, and inpatient settings.

Essential Functions

• Clinical Interventions: Develops a plan of care including interventions to address the needs of the child and family.


• Family and sibling support: Utilizing a family-centered care approach to ensure the patient and family's individual, cultural, and social needs are met and to provide developmentally appropriate education and support to other children in the family to help them cope with a family member in the hospital.


• Preparation and procedural support: Provides psychological preparation to children prior to undergoing medical procedures using expressive/medical play and other techniques to minimize stress or fears related to medical procedures.


• Developmental/Therapeutic play: Uses normative and/or therapeutic play opportunities to encourage expression of feelings, process difficult events, explore positive coping skills, promote a sense of mastery and understanding of health care experiences, and to minimize stress associated with health care experiences.


• Recognizes the developmental issues specifically related to healthcare experiences.


• Diagnosis education: Utilizing developmentally appropriate language to explain a new diagnosis, injury, illness, or death.


• Grief support: Providing memory making and legacy building items, developmentally appropriate education and resources for families, and facilitating bedside visits.


• (50%) Communication:
  
  
  
  • Monitors the child's reaction to hospitalization and provides the staff with timely information to supplement the health care services to the child.
  
  
  • Consults with family and staff to ensure clear communication and that the best interests of the patient are consistently met.
  
  
  • Provides education regarding the scope of child life services, the impact of health care on development, providing developmentally appropriate and emotionally safe medical care, and professional boundaries.
  
  
  
  


• (15%) Assessment:
  
  
  
  • Assessing the patient's current developmental level and providing interventions to enhance development.
  
  
  • Completing Psychosocial Risk Assessment in Pediatricsto evaluate and mitigate pediatric medical traumatic stress.
  
  
  
  


• (10%) Charting:
  
  
  
  • Documents services in patient chart.
  
  
  • Updates documentation as care plans change.
  
  
  
  


• (5%) Supply Management:
  
  
  
  • Selects and maintains program materials related to the Child Life role including but not limited to both developmental & normative toys/items, distraction items, and technology.
  
  
  
  


• (5%) Volunteers/Student Management:
  
  
  
  • Supervises volunteers and others participating in the Child Life Program.
  
  
  
  

Education

Bachelor's Degree required.

Work Experience

Two years of experience as a Certified Child Life Specialist in a hospital setting is highly preferred.

Licenses

Eligible for CCLS certification or CLS Certified - ACLP - Association of Child Life Professionals required.

BLS-Basic Life Support (BLS/CPR) - AHA - American Heart Association required.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.


• Child Life-Intermediate of knowledge and expertise of normal human growth and development. With intermediate skill set to provide clinical child life interventions to decrease medical trauma/stressors within a medical setting.


• Communicating - Communicating effectively orally and in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience, express or exchange ideas by verbal communications.


• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.


• Customer Service -Familiarity with the principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.


• Developing Objecti