Specialist - Child Life Services II

Role Overview

Specialist - Child Life Services II at Sidra Medicine, located in Qatar. This position provides department leadership and clinical child life services, operating under minimal supervision.

Role Purpose

Develop, coordinate, and implement therapeutic, educational, and recreational child life interventions and programs for pediatric patients. Provide clinical expertise, mentor junior staff and students, and lead quality improvement initiatives while maintaining the highest standards of care.

Key Responsibilities

Clinical Assessment and Therapeutic Intervention

• Implement Child Life services using evidence-based practice.
• Establish and maintain therapeutic relationships with children and families.
• Use developmentally appropriate play as a primary tool in assessing and meeting psychosocial needs.
• Utilize therapeutic play and other creative modalities to meet individual developmental and emotional needs.
• Apply formal and informal assessment techniques to assess psychosocial needs and continue the cyclical process of assessment, plan, intervention, and evaluation.
• Assess patient and family knowledge level, misconceptions, previous experience, and unique social, cultural, and learning needs.
• Assess patient and family responses to stress and ability to provide assessments regarding developmental reactions to hospitalization and risk for stress potential.
• Provide support to siblings, parents, and other friends and family members to improve understanding of the patient's situation and familiarization with the health care environment.
• Pace interactions in response to a child's and family's lead.
• Maintain good interpersonal relations with patients, families, visitors, and other employees, following departmental and hospital-wide philosophy.

Therapeutic Environment and Safety

• Create an environment where play is valued and encouraged.
• Prepare and maintain a safe, inviting, and developmentally responsive play environment appropriate for patients and families.
• Plan and implement varied developmentally supportive activities.
• Support the central role of the family, valuing strengths and needs; work to maintain family units.
• Ensure that the department's resources, playrooms, and activity areas are maintained appropriately and cleaned per hospital guidelines, adhering to Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) standards.
• Ensure that infection control procedures are adhered to at all times and provide assistance to the Department in this regard, including wiping down table surfaces, toy washing, and acting as liaison with Housekeeping and Infection Control staff.
• Provide input about facility design and provisions to promote orientation, comfort, healing, security, and normalization.

Patient and Family Education and Preparation

• Utilize knowledge of child development from neonate to adolescent and family-centered care to design and implement child life interventions including age-appropriate preparation and education and procedural support.
• Plan and implement teaching and support accordingly.
• Provide psychological preparation, incorporating key elements of developmentally appropriate information, encouragement of emotional expression, and the formation of a trusting relationship.
• Use accurate and developmentally appropriate teaching aids and techniques.
• Recognize verbal and non-verbal cues and adapt accordingly.
• Use minimally threatening, developmentally supportive language.
• Describe sensory information, sequence, timing, and duration of events.
• Facilitate planning, rehearsal, and implementation of coping strategies.
• Facilitate opportunities for play to decrease distress and increase effective coping.
• Utilize appropriate psychological pain management strategies and advocate for additional intervention as needed.
• Consider the unique needs of the child and family, such as coping style, previous experience, developmental level, culture, spirituality, family situation, and emotional state.
• Demonstrate respect for diversity.

Interdisciplinary Collaboration and Communication

• Participate in interdisciplinary care conferences, psychosocial rounds, and nursing report.
• Communicate concisely with others, integrating theory and evidence-based practice to obtain and share pertinent information.
• Demonstrate effective advocacy for Child Life practice, emotional safety, and psychosocial issues.
• Integrate interdisciplinary goals into Child Life services.
• Communicate expectations and roles clearly and concisely.
• Create concise, objective, and accurate clinical notes, documenting information pertinent to the plan of care in alignment with documentation guidelines.
• Recommend consults or referrals when circumstances are beyond the scope of Child Life practice.
• Function as a collaborative member of the interdisciplinary team and communicate and advocate for patient and family needs within this team.

Mentorship and Professional Development

• Serve as an active mentor to junior staff and students.
• Create and evaluate formal and informal learning opportunities.
• Act as a role model and mentor to new Child Life employees through teaching, observing, assessing, and validating skills and competencies.
• Provide orientation to department, assigned patient care areas, and hospital in general to observers, students, volunteers, Child Life Specialist I's, and Child Life Assistants.
• Create, facilitate, and lead modules and learning opportunities for child life students.
• Prepare expectations, goals, and plans for student rotation on assigned unit in coordination with the Internship Coordinator/Leadership, and guide students through learning experiences as assigned.
• While directly supervising a student rotation, provide daily assignments, evaluate their work, and provide resources necessary.
• Effectively supervise staff through positive leadership skills and provide consistent and supportive feedback for personal and program improvement.
• Develop and assist in facilitation of department-wide professional development activities including journal clubs, clinical supervision groups, and educational sessions.

Leadership and Quality Improvement

• Lead committees and workgroups.
• Facilitate quality improvement projects.
• Lead by example and display respect for, commitment to, and pride in department and facility.
• Prioritize patient and family care needs across areas and teams as needed; take action to mobilize teammates to address identified needs.
• Demonstrate positive initiative, flexibility, and reliability in accepting and adapting to change and direction at all times.
• Problem solve daily challenges; effectively communicate with and guide teammates in achieving optimal outcomes.
• Demonstrate effective time management skills, balancing patient care needs with leadership tasks.
• Identify and lead priority department and hospital initiatives, workgroups, and education to improve effectiveness, efficiency, and quality of services delivered to patients and families.
• Make day-to-day decisions regarding assessment and interventions that impact patients and families and collaborating staff and colleagues.
• Make recommendations to the supervisor regarding decisions that have a unit or service impact.
• Make leadership decisions to simultaneously provide the best patient care and support hospital-wide strategic plans.
• Demonstrate vast knowledge of the Child Life profession, Child Life Department, and Patient and Family Centered Care Principles.

Professional Representation and Advocacy

• Demonstrate effective advocacy for Child Life practice, emotional safety, and psychosocial issues.
• Maintain professional presentation of self, including careful attention to verbal and written communication, as well as standards in dress code.
• Provide comprehensive orientation to services.
• Assess and respond to diverse learning needs.
• Provide a safe learning and working environment.
• Demonstrate respect for the viewpoints of others.
• Model professionalism at all times.
• Communicate assessments, projects, and work completed to Child Life Supervisor and Manager on an ongoing basis.
• Attend and participate in assigned meetings.
• Lead or participate in priority initiatives and education.
• Pursue, participate in, and lead scholarly activities including publications, research, quality improvement, presentations, and other activities to advance the Child Life profession and best practices.
• Demonstrate and share high level of expertise in Child Life skill set and Sidra Medicine patient care practices.
• Adhere to Sidra's standards as they appear in the Code of Conduct and Conflict of Interest policies.
• Adhere to and promote Sidra's Values.

Compliance and Maintenance

• Manage multiple tasks including direct clinical work and administrative responsibilities.
• Maintain up-to-date mandatory Life Support Training requirements as directed by MoPH and Sidra, for example BLS, AED, and other certifications.

Qualifications & Experience

Education

Bachelor's Degree in one of the following: Child Life, Play Therapy, Leisure Studies, Child Development, Child and Family Studies, Family Centered Care, Human Development, Sociology, Psychology, Therapeutic Recreation, Expressive Arts, Creative Arts Therapy, Family Systems, Social Work, Early Childhood Education, Education, Public Health, or Health Care Administration or similarly titled degree.

Foundational courses in Child Life, Child Development, and Hospital Play required.

Experience

• 5+ years clinical experience as Certified Child Life Specialist or Registered Hospital/Health Play Specialist in pediatric settings.
• Strong clinical expertise across the competencies of the Child Life field.
• Experience in Child Life/Hospital Play department leadership, supervisory roles, and responsibilities.

Certification and Licensure

• Child Life Specialist Certification (CCLS) via the Association of Child Life Professionals (formerly Child Life Council, Inc.), or Healthcare Play Specialist Education Trust (HPSET) Registration, or Registered Hospital Play Specialist (RegHPS) via the Hospital Play Specialists Association of