Associate Child Life Specialist

Northwell•New York, NY

1d•$66,300 - $86,060

About The Position

Based on current plan-of-care, engages in routine psychosocial activities with children and their families to provide emotional support and identify opportunities to recommend and implement approved coping strategies. Participates in developing, implementing and evaluating psychosocial programs fostering emotional, developmental, intellectual and physical growth of children in a hospital environment and outpatient setting. Participates in orienting other hospital staff of the psychosocial needs of children and their families and fosters positive hospital community relations. This position also includes becoming a secondary handler for one of our current facility dogs. A secondary handler is responsible for providing goal oriented therapeutic interventions. The handler integrates the dog into the clinical and psychosocial care while ensuring patient safety, infection control compliance and the overall well being of the facility dog.

Requirements

Bachelors Degree in Child Life, Child Development, Psychology, Sociology or other Psychosocial-related field is required
Completion of a Child Life Internship with a minimum of 600 hours, under the supervision of a Certified Child Life Specialist, required
Child Life Certification required within 12 months of hire

Nice To Haves

Masters Degree is preferred

Responsibilities

Provides planned, routine psychosocial care for children and families designed to reduce stress, increase adaptive coping, and enhance developmental integrity by offering opportunities to play, learn, and interact with others in an emotionally and physically safe environment.
Uses developmentally appropriate and approved play experiences as a primary tool in helping to assess and meet the child’s psychosocial needs in the health-care setting; Provides varied activities patient’s plan-of-care, condition and need; Provides design input for patient activity areas to promote use, orientation, personalization, comfort and security.
Sets-up and organizes activity areas to carry-out planned, approved activities.
Creates a welcoming environment.
Greets and introduces self and role upon initial contact with patient/family; Recommends appropriate patients to hospital school.
Provides opportunities for and facilitates planned play and activities intended to promote self-healing, self-expression, understanding and mastery in an individual and group setting.
Recognizes and addresses importance of therapeutic play in facilitating child’s mastery and coping with health-care experience (i.e., medical play, creative arts); Allows patient/family to make choices and decisions to maximize feelings of control (i.e., what position is most comfortable, what coping technique to utilize, what toy to hold).
Participates-in developing a plan-of-care based on assessment of child’s development, temperament, coping style, medical plan and available social support using therapeutic play as a diagnostic and treatment tool.
Monitors, records and reports child’s perception of his/her diagnosis and treatment as revealed through play and other means of communication.
Provides basic, approved emotional support and stress reduction techniques during identified stress points.
Offers basic support and counsel to family members to assist with their adaptation to the child’s illness and health-care experiences and deal with their own stress and needs.
Performs related duties as required. All responsibilities noted here are considered essential functions of the job under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Duties not mentioned here, but considered related are not essential functions.