How have you impacted someone's life today? At Hackensack Meridian Health our teams are focused on changing the lives of our patients by providing the highest level of care each and every day. From our hospitals, rehab centers and occupational health teams to our long-term care centers and at-home care capabilities, our complete spectrum of services will allow you to apply your skills in multiple settings while building your career, all within New Jersey's premier healthcare system.

The Child Life Specialist is a member of the healthcare team responsible for providing emotional support to pediatric patients and their family members in the health care setting.  The Child Life Specialist is clinically trained to implement developmentally appropriate and therapeutic interventions promoting growth and development while minimizing the stress of a hospital experience.  The Child Life Specialist collaborates with the healthcare team to enhance customer service working in a variety of settings including Pediatrics, PICU, Pediatric Day Stay, ED and surgical areas.

***This position will be within the Surgical Department at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, NJ

***This position is for 40 hours/week with Full-Time Benefits. Working hours are from 6:30am - 3pm, Monday through Friday

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

1. Adheres to the Child Life Code of Ethics approved by the Association of  Child Life Professionals.
2. Provides child life services to pediatric patients and family members, including developmentally appropriate therapeutic play and activities, education, procedural preparation, coping techniques, and support based on illness or medical treatment.
3. Patient/Family assessment to prioritize and create a psychosocial care plan for each patient. Documents observations and interventions in EPIC. Participates in team care conferences.
4. Demonstrate outstanding communication skills.   Collaboration with patients, families and interdisciplinary teams to increase patient satisfaction.
5. Support manager/team with development of programming, policies and procedures. Offer opportunities to enhance and expand child life services within the children's hospital.
6. Supervision of child life students as defined by ACLP.
7. Supervision/training of volunteers for child life program.
8. Assist child life team with donations and special events.
9. Miscellaneous responsibilities include coordinating for patient milestone events and anything directly supporting patient care, such as maintenance of playrooms/teen lounge and storage units, restocking therapeutic play supplies, etc.
10. Adheres to HMH Organizational competencies and standards of behavior.

Education, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required:

1. Bachelor's Degree in Child Life, Child Development or closely related field
2. Must have successfully completed Child Life Internship as required by the ACLP
3. BLS (Basic Life Support) Certification required

Licenses and Certifications Required:

1. AHA Basic Health Care Life Support HCP Certification.

Licenses and Certifications Preferred:

1. Preferred Child Life Certification through the Association of Child Life Professionals. If not certified, must be eligible for certification and obtain within 6 months of hire.

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