Senior Child Life Specialist

Our team members are the heart of what makes us better.

At Hackensack Meridian Health we help our patients live better, healthier lives — and we help one another to succeed. With a culture rooted in connection and collaboration, our employees are team members. Here, competitive benefits are just the beginning. It’s also about how we support one another and how we show up for our community.

Together, we keep getting better - advancing our mission to transform healthcare and serve as a leader of positive change.

The Senior Child Life Specialist utilizes child life interventions to provide a safe and nurturing environment where children and adolescents can enrich coping skills, address psychosocial needs, and increase understanding of issues related to medical experiences. Sr Child Life Specialists maintain the same responsibilities as the Certified Child Life Specialist with additional duties of providing supervision of CLS, CLA, onboarding, volunteers, and students. Sr. Child Life Specialist acts as a positive role model for team members.

A day in the life of a Senior Child Life Specialist at Hackensack Meridian Health includes:

• Assesses psychosocial and developmental needs of pediatric patients and develops care plans.
• Rounding and collaboration with the interdisciplinary team on designated units.
• Educates families about the patient's developmental and coping responses to illness and hospitalization.
• Provides individual and/or group support for children and adolescents inpatient and outpatient.
• Provides Child Life Services to patient and family members in accordance with the Association of Child Life Professionals (ACLP).
• Maintains records of practices and tracks trends for reporting as requested.
• Works in collaboration and communicates with the treatment team to enhance care to patients.
• Completes timely documentation in EPIC as required.
• Maintains child friendly and safe playrooms as designated.
• Participates in team programming, i.e. task forces and committees within department or hospital.
• Identifies the needs of the patient population served and modifies and delivers care that is specific to those needs (i.e., age. Culture, hearing and/or visually impaired, etc.) This process includes communicating with the patient, parent and/or primary caregiver(s) at their level (developmental/age, educational, literacy, etc.).
• Focuses on a Family Centered model of care.
• Responsible for coordination and implementation of Child Life Special Events, volunteers, child life students, material management, donations and adult consults.
• Supervises Child Life Specialists, Child Life Associates, volunteers and child life students in accordance with department, educational site and ACLP standards.
• Provide education about child life services to team members.
• Other duties and/or projects as assigned.
• Adheres to HMH Organizational competencies and standards of behavior.

Education, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required:

• Bachelor's Degree in Child Life or related field.
• Five (5) years of previous experience or Masters degree in Child Life or related field.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Proficient computer skills that include but are not limited to Google Suite and/or Microsoft Office platforms.

Licenses and Certifications Required:

• Certified Child Life Specialist.

If you feel that the above description speaks directly to your strengths and capabilities, then please apply today!