UI Health is seeking a part-time 50% FTE Medical Social Associate (Child Life Specialist) to join our Hospital Pediatrics Nursing team.  

The Child Life Specialist is responsible for collaborating with the multidisciplinary team to create and implement child life interventions and programs at Cook County Hospital and at UI Health. The primary purpose of this position is to provide optimal developmental and psychosocial care and interventions to decrease the negative impacts of hospitalization. Child life interventions include but are not limited to; procedural preparation, support and distraction, support programs and education for siblings and family members, teaching coping techniques and developing coping plans, utilizing knowledge of child development to create appropriate interventions, and providing family-centered care.

Position will provide part-time support for Cook County Hospital & UI Health hospital.  Shift will be 5-days/week 8:00 a.m. – Noon  will rotating weekend availability (as needed).

Direct Patient Care

• Ensures the delivery of child life services through assessment and intervention, and by providing a safe and therapeutic environment for patients and families
• Provides procedural preparation and post procedural support while utilizing age appropriate explanations and teaching materials
• Offers non-pharmacological pain management techniques such as deep breathing and imagery, and advocates for the utilization of additional techniques, such as Pain Ease spray, J-Tip, and comfort positions, to help patients relax and cope positively
• Provides developmentally appropriate techniques for distraction to minimize fear and anxiety
• Facilitates and teaches effective coping techniques while working in conjunction with patients to create coping plan tailored to patient’s individual and developmental needs
• Utilizes therapeutic play to help patients explore and familiarize themselves with medical experiences, express feelings related to their experiences, and gain a sense of mastery and control over their admission
• Offers additional preparation, education, and medical play for siblings and family members. Provides the caregivers and siblings with developmentally appropriate resources and education regarding medical experiences
• Assesses patient’s developmental, emotional, and medical needs for therapeutic play interventions and provides activities and toys as appropriate
• Offers developmentally appropriate activities to patients and siblings during extended wait times to help distract and ensure positive experiences in the emergency department
• Create and run special event programming appropriate to the set population, including but not limited to; pet therapy, movie nights, art workshops, holiday celebrations
• Works with the multidisciplinary team to address individual psychosocial needs of patients and families to promote coping and adjustment to upcoming hospitalization, if applicable
• Provides bereavement support by offering memory making activities and resources to families on how to help entire family say goodbye and cope with grief

Indirect Patient Care

• Participates in committees to enhance patient care, patient experience, pain management, and unit operations
• Collaborates with multidisciplinary team to effectively communicate and learn about patient and family needs
• Provides updates and educational in-services to the department with relevant education on psychosocial needs
• Supervises child life students, other child life staff, volunteers, community groups, and support personnel
  • Conducts interviews for hire
  • Provides orientation and training
  • Provides ongoing support and direction
• Develops teaching and training materials related to the short and long-term planned curriculum for the Child Life Program. Collaborates with child life team to enhance programming
• Organizes and accumulates age appropriate resources and activities in useful space for multidisciplinary team to distribute and utilize for patient and family needs
• Communicates with child life team vital information and individual patient/family needs for a unit admission to facilitate continuity of care
• Develops and creates preparation resources for a variety of procedures and medical experiences
• Develops and maintains relationships with community organizations and donors. Gain donations to support and offer new resources to families
• Selects, purchases, and maintains an inventory of therapeutic, educational and recreational books, toys, games, electronic equipment, and other supplies as needed
• Completes timely documentation of services provided in clinical record. Share effective coping plans and successful techniques for patient’s individual needs through documentation
• Provides specialized knowledge of child life to other teaching or administrative staff members as consulting and multidisciplinary health care team members. 
• Participates actively in professional organizations and in the planning and development of long-term goals in the child life program (Chicagoland Association of Child Life Professionals, Association of Child Life Professionals, Bereavement Coalition, etc.)

Minimum Acceptable Qualifications Required: 

1. A. Bachelor's degree with a major in the social or behavioral science or related health specialty from an accredited college or university.

OR

B. Master's degree in social or behavioral science or related health specialty area from an accredited college or university.

2. One (1) year (12 months) of progressively more responsible full-time experience in the practice of social services/ agencies or medical/clinical setting maintaining acceptable standards of social work practices

Preferred Qualifications:

Child Life internship and/or professional experience as a Child Life Speicalist

To Apply: For fullest consideration, please fully complete an online application by clicking the Apply for Position button below.

Fully complete all sections of the online application including adding your full work history with specific details of your duties & responsibilities for each position held. Fully complete the education, licensure, certification and language sections.

You may upload a resume, cover letter, certifications, licensures, transcripts and diplomas within the document section of your online application.

All civil service positions require an exam.  The exam for this position is a Credentials Assessment.  You will not be required to report in person for this exam.

Credential Assessment Exam Scoring Information:

You will not be required to report in person for this exam. The updated online application and all uploaded, relevant documents, such as a resume, college transcript, certifications and licensures will be used in the calculation of the exam score. These documents should be uploaded prior to the position close date.

When completing your online application, please be sure to provide detailed information about your job knowledge and specific duties and responsibilities, as your qualifications for any Civil Service position will be primarily determined based on what is contained in the application. Dates of employment and if employed on a full or part time basis (including number of hours per week) must be indicated for each position held. Additional consideration will be given to supporting documentation i.e. resume, transcripts, licenses, and certifications so please be sure to attach all applicable documents.

For additional information regarding this position please contact Heather Ross at hross@uic.edu

If an application is not fully completed and submitted by the close date, the applicant/employee will not be considered for this position.

For fullest consideration, the above mentioned requirements must be submitted no later than 6/2/2022

We appreciate your interest in employment at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

The University of Illinois is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

This position requires Illinois residency within 180 days of the hire date. 

University of Illinois faculty, staff and students are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. If you are not able to receive the vaccine for medical or religious reasons, you may seek approval for an exemption in accordance with applicable University processes.

For classifications that require a degree as part of the minimum qualifications, a degree verification will be required before any offers of employment are extended.