Child Life Specialist - Austin

We are searching for a Child Life Clinical Specialist - someone who works well in a fast-paced hospital setting. In this position, you will support the Assistant Director of Child Life and Social Work and Director of Patient and Family Services by: providing clinical expertise and direction in the field of Child Life, coordinating the on-boarding and ongoing clinical supervision of certified Child Life Specialists, providing project leadership for inter and intradepartmental priorities and implementing solutions under the direction of leadership; being available to provide consultative support; and supporting various activities such as education on Child Life competencies, committee involvement, collaboration with Nursing, physicians and leadership on-call, including the Nursing Administrator on call and Administrator on Call.

Think you’ve got what it takes?

Minimum Responsibilities:

Being fully vaccinated against COVID-19, including any booster dose(s) of the COVID-19 vaccine recommended by the Centers for Disease Control when eligible, is required for all employees at Texas Children’s, unless approved for a medical or religious exemption

• Minimum of Bachelor’s degree in Child Life, Psychology, Sociology, or Human Development required
• Child Life Certification (CCLS) by the ACLP must be obtained within 6 months of entering the role
• Master’s degree in Child Life, Psychology, Sociology, or Human Development preferred
• 2 years clinical experience as a Child Life Specialist preferred 
• You must have completed your Child Life Specialist internship to take the certification test

Responsibilities:

• Collaborates with child life team to assist in planning, implementation and evaluation of the treatment approach in learning to utilize theoretical knowledge, sound judgment and problem-solving
• Serves as clinical expert for child life team in complex patient cases
• Develops and maintains department core competencies program with goals to continuously monitor and develop specific child life clinical skills
• Creates validation criteria for staff to meet and develop competencies identified to ensure high quality of child life skill validation
• Implements plan for direct observation of staff to validate ongoing skills
• Oversees orientation process to ensure consistency and provides appropriate feedback/evaluation of progress
• Participates in core preceptor development to assists in orientation of new employees
• Reviews current department and unit-based orientation pathways and competencies annually and makes revisions as needed in collaboration with CTD and leadership
• Keeps Assistant Director, Child Life and Social Work informed of orientee’s progress and performance on an ongoing basis
• Coordinates student program and clinical supervision programs, to include practicums, observations, and volunteer experiences