Child Life Specialist-Schaumburg

Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago provides superior pediatric care in a setting that offers the latest benefits and innovations in medical technology, research and family-friendly design. As the largest pediatric provider in the region with a 140-year legacy of excellence, kids and their families are at the center of all we do. Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago is ranked in all 10 specialties by the U.S. News & World Report.

Day (United States of America)

Outpatient Center in Schaumburg

The Child Life Specialist is a clinical expert in child development, emotional safety, and trauma-informed care who provides assessment and intervention to mitigate and reduce negative experiences within the medical setting. Provides leadership, expertise and knowledge of child development within the context of challenging medical experiences to support patient’s and caregivers’ coping, emotional safety and encouraging optimum development.

• Integrates emotional safety into care of patients and families through individualized care and quality improvement projects. This includes timely, effective, and trauma-informed interventions focused on preparation, education, and support within a developmentally attuned framework.

• Develops therapeutic relationships with patients and caregivers to provide a psychosocial assessment of their emotional support and overall coping needs. Assessments include evaluation of coping style, temperament and adjustment to inform interventions to address emotional safety, understanding, and psychosocial wellbeing throughout medical care. Documents these interventions in the medical record based on clinical assessment, in accordance with professional standards.

• Advocates for and addresses the psychosocial/developmental/spiritual/cultural needs of the child and family throughout the continuum of care to promote comprehensive psychosocial and family-centered care. Demonstrates a steady commitment to anti-bias practices throughout their work with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion.

• Builds and maintains positive, collaborative relationships with interdisciplinary team members to address individual patient care goals as well as impact broader systems and policy toward systemic change. Participates in team conferences, rounds, staff meetings, new staff member orientation, and in-service education as appropriate.

• Facilitates practical, theoretical, and clinical training regarding the psychosocial care of children, via formal and informal educational lectures to all members of patient care teams and hospital staff. Serves as a subject matter expert on unit based, hospital wide, interdisciplinary committees, articulating the therapeutic and clinical nature of the work done by child life staff. Assists in preparation and dissemination of information representing the hospital and Child Life Program to community groups, organizations, and the news media.

• Works to meet institutional and team goals and assumes responsibility for professional development through participation in seminars, course work, and/or hospital education programs to develop and maintain professional credentials in pursuit of realizing and standardizing trends of best practice(s).

• Participates and leads quality improvement projects aimed at integrating innovations in the field and evidence based best practice standards into day-to-day workflows to ensure emotionally safe care and optimal patient and family outcomes. Embraces improvements and actively participates in the implementation of new/improved programs, technology, equipment, systems and resources that promote quality of care, safety and efficiency.

• Provides supervision of child life students as a professional responsibility and in pursuit of growth of the field of Child Life Specialists.

• Requires completion of a bachelor’s degree, with knowledge of child and adolescent development typically acquired through a focus on child development, child and family development, or a related field of study.
• Requires current CCLS (certified child life specialist) credential from the…