Certified Child Life Specialist
Company: Yale New Haven Health
Location: New Haven
Posted on: April 24, 2024
Job Description:
OverviewTo be part of our organization, every employee should
understand and share in the YNHHS Vision, support our Mission, and
live our Values. These values - integrity, patient-centered,
respect, accountability, and compassion - must guide what we do, as
individuals and professionals, every day.
Responsible for promoting optimum development of infants, children,
adolescents and families; maintaining normal living patterns and
minimizing psychological upset. As integral members of the
interdisciplinary health care team, child life specialists provide
children opportunities for gaining a sense of mastery, for play,
for learning, for self-expression, for family involvement and for
peer interaction. Specialists also provide instruction and
supervision to student interns and volunteers and interpret child
life philosophy to the health care community.
EEO/AA/Disability/Veteran Responsibilities
- 1. -Provides developmental guidelines and acts as a resource to
other hospital departments concerning child development
issues.
- 2. -Supports the child life student intern coordinator with the
student internship program as needed. Serves as a resource person
and preceptor to student and graduate nurses, house staff and other
health care professionals.
- 3. -Orients and supervises community, college and youth
volunteers to assist with group or individual programs within
pediatrics. Conducts orientation sessions and evaluates volunteers
at periodic intervals as designated by the Volunteer Department.
Completes written evaluations and recommendations for volunteers
upon request.
- 4. -Maintains liaisons with other child life specialists
through attendance at staff meetings, seminars and conferences and
participates in all aspects of Child Life Department activity,
- 5. -Selects, maintains and supervises use of materials
integrated into programming; assesses materials and equipment for
safety and suitability for patient's use and participates in
writing funding proposals in order to secure funds for playroom and
programming enhancements.
- 6. -Keeps current with new trends and developments in the field
of child life and relates these changes to practice. Maintains
professional development of self and participates in the
development of others.
- 7. -Utilizes knowledge of child development (neonate to
adolescent) and family-centered care to design and implement child
life interventions including developmentally appropriate
preparation and education, procedural support, and a range of
therapeutic, expressive, and normalizing play experiences.
- 8. -Assesses and prioritizes patient and family potential risk
for stress with consideration for the unique needs of the
individual and family, including coping style, previous experience,
developmental level, culture, spirituality, family situation and
emotional state.
- 9. -Works collaboratively with and functions as an effective
member of the child life and interdisciplinary health care teams to
share concerns and needs of individual children. In addition,
advocates for the implementation of appropriate interventions to
decrease stress for children and families during their health care
experience
- 10. -Plans, implements, supervises, and evaluates therapeutic
play activities and programs for groups of pediatric patients
and/or individual patients to meet their developmental and
pschosocial needs and to help them cope with the stresses of the
health care setting and illness
- 11. -Prepares pediatric patients and families for surgical,
medical and/or diagnostic procedures. Provides procedural support
and follow-up interventions as needed.
- 12. -Communicates with parents about their child's feelings,
behaviors, and responses to health care experiences. Extends
support to family members with respect to their own stress and
needs. Identifies resources for both patient and family.
- 13. -Maintains the child's relationship with parents and other
family members. Advocates for family participation in the health
care experience. Evaluates needs and facilitates access to
resources for siblings.
- 14. -Creates a safe and nurturing environment in which children
and their families can reduce their stress and anxieties through
creative expression, communication, and involvement in typical
routines and activities.
- 15. -Maintains effective oral and written communication skills.
Shares observations and assessments of patient behaviors and
interactions and recommends therapeutic interventions in
interdisciplinary team meetings and through documentation in the
patient medical record.
- 16. -Demonstrates effective organizational and interpersonal
skills to ensure smooth functioning of child life services in
assigned area(s) and patient population(s).
- 17. -Teaches patients and families coping techniques to empower
them to comply with hospital treatments and procedures (for
example, pill swallowing, deep breathing techniques, guided
imagery/visulaization).
- 18. -Keeps accurate and timely statistical data including time
spent with patients, types of interventions provided, patient
acuity, and related assessments, ; Utilizes data to best meet
patient needs and manage workload.
- 19. -Supports the patient experience goals of units/clinics of
coverage and provides consistent positive patient experiences
within a family-centered care context; extends support to the whole
family as defined by the patient/family.
- 20. -Engages in continuous reflective practice and seeks out
feedback from supervisors, peers and patients/families to improve
efficacy and impact of interventions.
- 21. -Serves on departmental and hospital-wide committees to
support patient care initiatives; Serve on national professional
committees and work groups to represent the department and support
the growth of the profession.
- 22. -May be required to complete training and assume the
role/responsibilities of facility dog handler and perform the main
interventions of the role with the facility dog's support.
QualificationsEDUCATION Bachelor's Degree in Child Life, Child
Development, Child and Family Studies, Child Psychology,
Recreational Therapy, or related field required; master's degree
preferred. EXPERIENCE Strong background working with children and
families; 1-2 years experience as a Child Life Specialist in a
health care setting preferred LICENSURE Certification as a
Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS) through the Association of
Child Life Professionals (ACLP) is required for the position; if
the candidate meets all of the eligibility requirements for the
CCLS credential, except for the Certification Exam, they must
successfully complete the exam and attain certification within 6
months of hire. SPECIAL SKILLS Excellent interpersonal skills;
ability to work with multidisciplinary groups in effective
collaborative practice; CPR certified. PHYSICAL DEMAND Able to lift
at least 25lbs., must comply with appropriate OSHA & JCAHO
standards relevant to the position. Additional Information This
position covers the Pediatric ED at Yale New Haven Hosptial York St
CampusYNHHS Requisition ID
71919
Keywords: Yale New Haven Health, Hamden , Certified Child Life Specialist, Other , New Haven, Connecticut
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