Child Life Specialist - Child Life &Allied Therapy - Orlando Health

Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children

Providing compassionate care to the children, teenagers and young adults of Central Florida for more than 30 years, Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children is located on the downtown Orlando campus and includes 156 licensed beds for specialized care for children as well as the Bert Martin’s Champions for Children Emergency Department & Trauma Center, offering trauma care for children as the pediatric site of the Orlando Health ORMC Level One Trauma Center. State-of-the-art pediatric services are provided by a comprehensive staff that includes pediatric subspecialty physicians and a nursing team that is “Magnet” recognized for nursing excellence and high-quality patient care. The hospital also has earned national recognition for 12 consecutive years as a “Best Children’s Hospitals” by U.S. News & World Report and was included, together with Orlando Health ORMC, in the IBM Watson Health 100 Top Hospitals® list for 2021.

Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children seeking a Child  Life Specialist.  Child Life Specialist assesses for and provides therapeutically supportive interventions for patients and families by utilizing theories of human growth and development, family systems and biopsychosocial models as outlined by child life professional standards of practice. Focuses on helping children and adolescents master challenging life events through promotion of play, education and preparation throughout the health care experience. 

Shift: Varies. Pool

Essential Functions
 Demonstrates knowledge and ability to provide clinical support/education to patients and families of all age groups.
 Uses basic knowledge around formal and informal assessment techniques to accurately determine patients’
developmental and emotional status, and documents such as indicated.
 Verbalizes developmental theory to support assessments and interventions with patients and families.
 Uses resources to accommodate cultural and communication/language needs to provide comprehensive care.
 Provides age appropriate, non-pharmacological pain management techniques to patients to optimize outcomes.
 Uses developmentally appropriate and medically accurate teaching strategies to ensure that cognitive and emotional needs are supported prior to, during and following invasive and perceived threatening procedures and surgeries.
 Provides parental guidance regarding impact of illness, hospitalization, treatment and bereavement.
 Determines and prioritizes the needs and scope of child life services for each patient and family members, i.e. siblings.
 Provides direction to Child Life Assistants and Child Life Volunteers related to patient care activity and services.
Provides a therapeutic and safe environment for individuals and groups, ages 0-21:
 Utilizes therapeutic play, both in group settings and one-on-one interactions to facilitate a child’s mastery of and coping with the health care experience.
 Ensures a safe, appropriate and child-friendly environment within the play spaces.
 Aware of patient safety issues in the health care environment and demonstrates such awareness.
 Adheres to hospital policy regarding patient confidentiality and infection control.
Represents and communicates child life and psychosocial issues of pediatric health care:
 Participates in Child Life student experiences.
 Serves as a subject matter expert about the work of child life to various tour groups visiting the hospital.
 Recommends/provides programs and resources to curriculum/training of health care staff, students and volunteers. Assists with programs that involve the community for purposes of enhancing the patient experience:
 Helps provide input for community service projects such as donations of supplies, entertainment and recreational experiences.
 Collaborates with internal stakeholders to ensure good communication and compliance with OH requirements.
 Effectively serves as a liaison between a community partner and the patients/families for purposes of facilitating meaningful introductions and interactions between them.
 Contributes to post-event assessment to determine whether changes are warranted in the future for continued
enhancement to the patient experience.

Other Related Functions
 Effectively and efficiently uses resources, time, equipment and supplies.
 Participates in departmental performance improvement and/or other hospital committees and initiatives.

Education/Training

Bachelor’s degree in child Life, Child Development, Early Childhood Education, Therapeutic Recreation, Family and Child Studies or related field. Successful completion of a specific child life student internship.

Licensure/Certification

 Must maintain professional certification as a Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS) as awarded by the Child Life
Certifying Commission; or eligible to sit for the CCLS exam and successfully complete within first year of
employment.
 Maintains current BLS/HealthCare Provider certification.

Experience

None