**$5,0000 Sign On Bonus**

**Child Life Specialist - Children of Adults Patients**

**Job Summary**

As a Palliative Care Child Life Specialist, you will utilize your child life knowledge, skills and experience providing exceptional psychosocial support to children (ages 0-18 years) loved by seriously and/or terminally ill or injured adult patients. You will provide education and guidance to adults as they navigate their own difficult medical journey, with their children. Youll engage children in age-appropriate discussions and therapeutic interventions to address their concerns, and to help them cope, and understand, their loved ones condition. You'll support children experiencing loss and help families understand how children grieve. Youll receive extensive training as we prepare you to support children experiencing significant life changes resulting from trauma, serious illness or injury, and the death of a loved one.

**What You'll Do**

Youll partner with adult patients and families to provide support for the children they love.

Youll assess the psychosocial needs of children and facilitate developmentally-appropriate therapeutic interventions to support their unique coping and understanding.

Youll explain serious illness or injury, as well as dying and death to children, and assess their grief and coping throughout the medical journey, death, and into early bereavement.

Youll be alert for signs of neglect or abuse of children you support, and report instances promptly.

Youll provide families with educational resources and recommend community organizations for long-term support including professional counseling, if needed.

Youll help educate the medical staff about Palliative Care Child Life Services and work alongside them to ensure excellent family-centered care.

Youll help develop best practices, and processes to enhance our Palliative Care Child Life team and the services we provide across the Baylor Scott & White healthcare system.

**What Will Make You Successful in The Role**

You have an extensive understanding of child development, child life theory, evidence-based practice, trauma, grief, and developmentally-appropriate therapeutic practices for children.

You have strong communication skills including active listening, child-friendly language, empathy, emotional intelligence, and social awareness.

You demonstrate cultural awareness while interacting with patients, families, and medical staff from varied spiritual, ethnic, linguistic, educational, and socio-economic backgrounds.

You are comfortable educating adults, including medical staff, about childrens unique responses to serious medical conditions, visiting their hospitalized loved one, death, and grief.

You effectively manage your own emotions as you support children and families experiencing highly stressful circumstances.

You thoroughly document interactions with patients and families using professional language, punctuation, spelling, and tone.

**Belonging Statement**

We believe everyone should feel welcomed, valued, and supported. Our workforce should reflect our communities.

**Qualifications**

A Bachelor's degree

(3) Three years of work experience in a related field

Certification as a Child Life Specialist

Basic Life Support Certification, which should be obtained within 30 days of being hired or transferred into the role.

As a health care system committed to improving the health of those we serve, we are asking our employees to model the same behaviours that we promote to our patients. As of January 1, 2012, Baylor Scott & White Health no longer hires individuals who use nicotine products. We are an equal opportunity employer committed to ensuring a diverse workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.