General Description:

The Child Life fellowship is a one-year grant funded position to support the child life team with clinical needs, and allows new graduates to gain a year of paid experience before an entry-level role in the field. Assists the Child Life Department in researching and designing activities that promote the social, emotional, intellectual and physical growth of children.

Essential Responsibilities:

Responsibilities listed in this section are core to the position. Inability to perform these responsibilities with or without an accommodation may result in disqualification from the position.

• Provides normalizing playroom and bedside activities, procedural preparations and support, sibling support, bereavement support and teaching positive coping techniques.
• Utilizes health care play, developmentally appropriate activities, as well as works with volunteer workers and educational materials to assist children and families in adjusting to the hospital environment.
• Coordinates internal (in-services, grand rounds, etc) and external (appropriate community agencies, Child Life Conference, etc) professional development and training opportunities.
• Assesses patient's psychosocial/developmental needs and provide therapeutic interventions
• Provides developmentally appropriate activities
• Promotes play as a healing and therapeutic modality for patients and families
• Provides clinical child life services hospital wide on Saturdays

General Responsibilities:

• Performs other duties as assigned

Minimum Qualifications:

Education: Bachelor's degree in Child life, child development, family studies, psychology or related field

Experience: Completion of at least a 600+ hour clinical child life internship along with a bachelor's degree

Licensure/Certifications/Registrations Required: Eligibility to sit for the Association of Child Life Professionals national certification exam and successfully passing exam within the year of employment

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

Must have knowledge of the theories of play, family systems, cultural awareness and human growth and development. Must have effective oral and written communication skills. Ability to work with an interdisciplinary team. Must have good interpersonal skills to develop effective working relationships and to deal with difficult family/individual dynamics. Knowledge of performance improvement tools and how to monitor an ongoing process. Skill in planning programs and analyzing the problems that arise. Computer skills and a general knowledge of office procedures.