Coordinator - Certified Child Life Specialist - Child Life - Full Time

Coordinator Child Life Specialist – Pediatrics

Who We Are:

Elliot Hospital’s Women's and Children's Services are dedicated to addressing the specific health and wellness needs of women and their children. Elliot treats more pediatric patients than any other non-teaching hospital in Northern New England, and is the only Pediatric/Adolescent Center in Greater Manchester. The Pediatric/Adolescent Center has a 17 bed capacity. We care for ill and injured children year round, with an average of 925 patients per year.

About the Job:

The provision of Child Life services is a quality benchmark of an integrated child health delivery system and an indicator of excellence in pediatric care. Enhances quality of patient care through leadership, oversight, participation, documentation, and communication with other members of the healthcare team. The Child Life Coordinator will implement, coordinate, and evaluate the Child Life Program for the Elliot Health System. The incumbent will identify, coordinate, implement and oversee new programming and program advancements; will provide consultation to and collaboration with medical/nursing staff, patients and their families, and the community to ensure the needs of pediatric patients are being met on a hospital-wide basis; and will orient, train, and supervise the work performed by Child Life program staff.

What You’ll Do:

• Coordinate, implement and evaluate Child Life services for Elliot Health System. Orient, train and supervise new Child Life program staff. Collaborate with hiring manager and recruiter to identify candidates and facilitate interviews with the Child Life/Music Therapy team.
• Improves staff performance through ongoing mentoring and feedback when necessary. Provides input for performance evaluations. Mentors a team of professionals by providing an environment that facilitates professional growth, effective communication, and collaboration.
• Provides leadership for program adherence to policy and procedures.
• Identify, coordinate, implement and oversee new programming and program advancements ensuring programming aligns with the standards established by the Association of Child Life Professionals (ACLP). Oversee new projects and timelines for the Child Life Program ensuring that tasks are delegated appropriately and effectively to Child Life.
• Provide consultation to and collaboration with medical/nursing staff, patient and their families and the community to ensure the needs of pediatric patients are being met on a hospital-wide basis.  
• Serve as dedicated liaison in partnership with music therapy to other clinical departments, collaborating to identify Child Life and Music Therapy needs in each department and address concerns and problems, as needed. Orient and educate hospital staff to the psycho-social needs of children and their families.
• Represent Child Life program at administrative meetings; provide education to medical center staff on Child Life services and evidence-based practices.
• Coordinate student internship opportunities, including curriculum and programming development. Responsible for supervising students and hosting student shadows. Maintains professional relationships with area schools and universities.
• In collaboration with the Volunteer Resources Department, coordinate and oversee the Child Life Volunteer Program, visiting entertainers/one-day volunteers and special events for the Child Life program. Serve as lead supervisor for all volunteers within the Child Life program. Delegates work responsibilities to volunteers as appropriate. Provides direction as needed to ensure duties are performed according to established standards, guidelines, and instructions. Maintains accurate, up-to-date volunteer service description for Child Life Volunteers.
• Serve as main point person for establishing, fostering, and maintaining communication with outward facing community organizations to facilitate ongoing donations, services and relations.
• Maintain ongoing communication and collaboration with the Mary & John Elliot Charitable Foundation team for donations, and donor relations for the Child Life program. Coordinate and oversee in-kind donations and maintain accurate records of donations for the program.
• Represents the Child Life Program in public speaking engagements, donor engagement activities, tours, and email correspondence.
• In collaboration with the Mary & John Elliot Charitable Foundation, identify and apply for grant funding for the program. Collaborate with Foundation and other departments to serve as a subject expert for pediatric grant funding in other areas of the health system as needed.
• Collaborate with Marketing Department for program marketing, content creation and updates for the program website.
• Oversee and present on Child Life program data collection for Child Life Specialists.
• Determines, develops and evaluates administrative strategies and information systems in support of clinical programs.
• Identify program needs, maintain accurate stock of program resources, and collaborate with Purchasing to purchase program needs. Collaborate with multiple departments and vendors to coordinate logistics and procedures surrounding new and existing resources.
• Provides visionary leadership as to the direction and trajectory of the program and the growth of all disciplines within the program.
• Collaborates with leadership, directors, and managers to achieve programmatic goals.
• Responsible for working with Clinical Nurse Manager to create and review budget for each fiscal year based on program needs; budgeting FTEs, supplies, and resources for the program.
• Provide direct patient care/clinical responsibilities of a Child Life Specialist. Lead and coordinate all phases of assessment of the emotional, educational, and recreational needs of hospitalized patients and other health care experiences of children and families. Promote effective coping through play, education, and self-expression activities.
• Prepare children for hospitalization, clinic visits, surgeries, and diagnostic/therapeutic procedures.
• Educate patients, caregivers, families, and the public about the needs of children under stress.
• Provide bereavement follow-up and support for patient families.
• Adhere to the Child Life Council Code of Ethics.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Who You Are:

• Bachelor’s degree with emphasis on human growth and development, education, psychology, or a related field of study required
• Child Life Specialist Credential required
• Completion of a 600-hour Child Life internship under the supervision of a Certified Child Life Specialist
• A minimum of three (3) to five (5) years of previous experience working with hospitalized and/or healthy infants, children and adolescents in a hospital, private practice or community-based setting required

Why You’ll Love Us:

• Medical, Dental, Vision Benefits starting the 1st of the month following start date
• Accrued Earned Time
• 403b with matching (fully vested) and discretionary annual core contributions
• Tuition Reimbursement up to $4,000/year for full time coded employees over 30 hours/week
• Miscellaneous Benefits – Pet Insurance, Legal Services, Vendor Discounts