Child Life Specialist I | Full-Time

Be a part of a world-class academic healthcare system, UChicago Medicine, as a Child Life Specialist in Comer Children's Hospital. In this role, you will work throughout the hospital offering support for children and families to help them cope with injuries and illnesses.

Our Child life specialist's focus on each child's psychological and developmental needs to help him or her feel more comfortable in the hospital. We use a wide range of medical dolls, teaching tools and resources to prepare each child for procedures, surgeries and treatments. Since children grow and learn through play, we offer many opportunities for kids to do just that, as well socialize with other young people in the hospital. Our child life staff provides a wide range of supportive services for babies, children and adolescents.

The Child Life Specialist will provide psychosocial support to children and families during hospitalization and will be responsible for designing and maintaining the physical, therapeutic, developmental and educational environment of Child Life Services in a manner that promotes a child/family friendly atmosphere. The Child Life Specialist lends expertise and knowledge of child growth and development to the healthcare team, adjusts interaction and/or treatment to match each patients developmental, educational and other related needs.

Essential Job Functions 

• Assess patients/families' psychosocial and developmental needs within the context of their adjustment to the healthcare setting.
• Facilitates appropriate interventions through individual and group play/art activities, therapeutic activities/medical play, preparation for procedures, surgeries and potentially stressful events.
• Formulates treatment goals.
• Documents weekly Child Life interventions and services on weekly reports and computer census. Documents in patient's medical chart adhering to departmental policy.
• Orders, stocks, and maintains supplies; maintains play areas with developmentally appropriate toys/activities that are clean and safe.
• Initiates and implements new programs/projects as assigned by Director of Child Life.

 Required Qualifications 

• Bachelor's Degree with a concentration in child life 
• An internship in a child life program
• Certification eligible as a Child Life Specialist and acquired with one year of employment
• One to two years’ work experience with infants, children or adolescents
• Knowledge and skills necessary to utilize theoretical constructs of human development for assessment and intervention for infants through teenagers
• Interpersonal skills necessary to establish therapeutic relationships with children and their families, as well as effective communication
• Analytical skills necessary to identify and solve problems within a constantly changing and stressful environment
   

Preferred Qualifications 

• Master's Degree with a concentration in child life
• Hospital setting work experience as a Child Life Specialist
• Child Life Specialist certification 

Position Details 

• Job Type/FTE: Full-Time
• Shift: Rotate
• Unit/Department: Child Life 

In this role, we anticipate that you will generally work approximately 40 hours per week. We anticipate that your general schedule to work will rotate between the Day and Evening shift, approximately between 8:00am-11:00pm and will not be scheduled for on-call shifts. We anticipate you will be scheduled to work 100% at the Hyde Park campus. The days of the week that you are scheduled will be Monday-Friday. You will be scheduled to work on weekends approximately once per month.

We’ve been at the forefront of medicine since 1899. We provide superior healthcare with compassion, always mindful that each patient is a person, an individual. To accomplish this, we need employees with passion, talent and commitment… with patients and with each other. We’re in this together: working to advance medical innovation, serve the health needs of the community, and move our collective knowledge forward. If you’d like to add enriching human life to your profile, The University of Chicago Medicine is for you. Here at the forefront, we’re doing work that really matters. Join us. Bring your passion.

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Bring your career to the next level at a hospital that is thriving; from patient satisfaction to employee engagement, we are at the Forefront of Medicine. Take advantage of all we have to offer and #BringYourPassiontotheForefront.

University of Chicago Medicine is growing; discover how you can be a part of this pursuit of excellence at: www.uchospitals.edu/jobs 

The University of Chicago Medical Center is an equal opportunity employer.  We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, civil union status, parental status, religion, national origin, age, disability, veteran status and other legally protected characteristics.