Certified Child Life Specialist

Job Overview

Child Life Specialist (Casual/PRN) – University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital, Minneapolis

Help kids be kids, even in the hospital.

Fairview is hiring a Casual Child Life Specialist to join the pediatric team at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis. You’ll use therapeutic play, medical play, procedural preparation, and psychosocial support to help infants, children, teens, and their families cope with illness, hospitalization, and medical procedures.

New grads welcome. If you’ve finished an ACLP-recognized child life internship, you can apply now. You’ll have 180 days to earn your CCLS certification, and experienced CCLSs are encouraged to apply too.

Schedule: Casual / PRN (days/evenings/weekends) | Pay: $27.34–$38.59/hour

Why you’ll love this role:

• Work at an academic children’s hospital alongside a multidisciplinary pediatric care team
• Practice true family-centered care, with time to build relationships with patients, siblings, and caregivers
• Flexible casual schedule that fits your life
• Grow your skills with continuing education, tuition reimbursement, and chances to supervise students and volunteers

What you’ll do:

Assess and plan

• Assess patients’ and families’ developmental, emotional, and psychosocial needs using formal and informal techniques
• Build individualized coping plans using the child life cycle of assessment, plan, intervention, and evaluation
• Identify what makes a child or family vulnerable to stress and trauma, and how they make sense of illness and loss

Prepare and educate

• Give developmentally appropriate procedural preparation and education about diagnoses and plans of care
• Use accurate teaching aids and medical play to correct misconceptions and ease fears
• Set realistic learning goals with families and the healthcare team

Support kids through procedures

• Provide procedural support and non-pharmacological pain management, including distraction, comfort positioning, and guided parental presence
• Lead team coping plans for stressful, painful, or traumatic experiences
• Help patients plan, rehearse, and evaluate their own coping strategies

Create space for play

• Plan and lead therapeutic play and expressive arts for kids of all ages, abilities, and cultures
• Use play as an assessment tool so children can express their anxieties and perceptions of the hospital
• Create safe, welcoming play spaces that encourage group play and let children explore at their own pace

Support the whole family

• Provide psychosocial support to patients, siblings, and caregivers, including through end of life, grief, and bereavement
• Keep families connected during hospitalization and separation
• Practice active listening and empathic communication with families under stress

Collaborate and lead

• Partner with nurses, physicians, social workers, and the Patient and Family Support Services team
• Supervise child life students and volunteers
• Bring evidence-based practice into your work and keep the professional boundaries defined by the ACLP

Qualifications: 

Required 

• Bachelor’s degree in Child Life, Child or Family Development, Child Psychology, Counseling, Education, Social Work, Nursing, or a related field
• Completion of an ACLP-recognized child life internship
• Ability to sit for and pass the Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS) exam within 180 days of hire
• Basic Life Support (BLS) certification (AHA or Red Cross) within 30 days of hire

Preferred 

• Current CCLS certification
• Master’s degree in child life or a closely related field
• 3–5 years of experience as a Certified Child Life Specialist

Ready to make the hospital a little less scary for kids? Apply today.

Benefit Overview

Fairview offers a generous benefit package including but not limited to medical, dental, vision plans, life insurance, short-term and long-term disability insurance, PTO and Sick and Safe Time, tuition reimbursement, retirement, early access to earned wages, and more! Please follow this link foradditional information: https://www.fairview.org/careers/benefits/noncontract

Compensation Disclaimer

An individual's pay rate within the posted range may be determined by various factors, including skills, knowledge, relevant education, experience, and market conditions. Additionally, our organization prioritizes pay equity and considers internal team equity when making any offer. Hiring at the maximum of the range is not typical. If your role is eligible for a sign-on bonus, the bonus program that is approved and in place at the time of offer, is what will be honored.

EEO Statement

EEO/Vet/Disabled: All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to any lawfully protected status