Child Life Specialist Job Description
Child Life Specialist Job Profile and Description
The job of a child life specialist comprises of providing help and assistance to the children and their families during the time the child is hospitalised and is recuperating from an ailment. During the times of hospitalisation, the child and its parents need financial, physical and emotional support and a child life specialist provides them the same. They may not operate on the child themselves but they are useful in convincing the child and its family of the right recovery from the mental trauma. Hence a child life specialist provides mental relief from the pain and agony caused due to hospitalisation of a child.
Child Life Specialist Duties and Responsibilities
- As given above, the child life specialist provides mental relief from the grief and pain caused due to the ailments faced by the child at a hospital. The child life specialist works with other lifesaving medical professional to bring the child out of danger as soon as possible.
- The child life specialist often functions as a partner for communication between the family of the child and the medical professionals operating on the child. During all such medical emergencies, the child life specialist stays alongside a family to provide them the required confidence and courage.
- The child life specialist also enquires about the tests being conducted on the child and keeps the parents of the child informed accordingly.
- The child generally fears the injections and various complicated treatments. Hence a child life specialist provides comfort to the child and it helps in smooth conduct of the medical procedures on the child.
Child Life Specialist Skills and Specifications
- Child life specialists are expected to understand the attitudes and cope with language problems facing them.
- Various tasks need to be handled simultaneously by the child life specialists. So, they should be able to handle various tasks at a single point of time.
- Certifications programs are provided by various states to become child life specialists. Such exams are to be attended and the necessary license needs to be obtained.
Child Life Specialist Education and Qualifications
- Candidates who want to become child life specialists should take up university degree in child care specialisation.
- Most of the child life specialists working in the United States have at least a Bachelor’s degree in child development or child psychology.
Child Life Specialist Salary
A child life specialist earns about $40,000 per annum on an average. This varies depending on the education level and the certification status of the individual. Those who do not possess proper certification may earn about $35,000 per annum.