Child Life Specialist

Child Life Specialist Req #: 0000265750 Category: Behavioral and Mental Health Status: Full-Time Shift: Day Facility: Childrens Specialized Hosp Department: Recreational Therapy Pay Range: $56,300.00 - $70,400.00 per year Location: 200 Somerset St., New Brunswick, NJ 08901 Job Title: Child Life Specialist Location: New Brunswick (NB) Department Name: Recreational Therapy Req #: 0000265750 Status: Salaried Shift: Day Pay Range: $56,300.00 - $70,400.00 per year Pay Transparency: The above reflects the anticipated annual salary range for this position if hired to work in New Jersey. The compensation offered to the candidate selected for the position will depend on several factors, including the candidate's educational background, skills and professional experience. Our Child Life Specialists work collaboratively within the Recreational Therapy department to meet the therapeutic, educational, and diversional needs of our patients, facilitating a healthy adjustment to illness, disability, and hospitalization. By providing comprehensive, age-appropriate programming and individual treatment plans, our specialists proactively engage pediatric patients and families to minimize distress and foster resiliency. We view our specialists as a critical component of the care team and recognize the incredibly positive impact they have on clinical and developmental outcomes. We hope you are excited by the opportunity to deliver specialized pediatric care in a way that redefines the patient experience through teamwork, compassion, and excellence! A Typical Day: Designing Individualized Care: Assessing children's developmental level, coping skills, play preferences, and family dynamics to implement targeted child life interventions. Delivering Evidence-Based Interventions: Conducting individual therapeutic sessions, procedural support, team treatments, and patient-family teaching tailored to a wide variety of age and diagnostic groups. Collaborating on Continuity: Partnering with families, therapists, nurses, and physicians during clinical updates, including supporting school re-integration services for discharge planning. Fostering Community & Milieu: Coordinating rotating special events throughout the year and managing diversional playrooms to maintain a welcoming, therapeutic environment. Ensuring Clinical Compliance: Writing concise, objective, and timely professional assessments and documentation in the electronic medical record according to hospital policy. Leading Volunteers & Interns: Effectively utilizing, supervising, and orienting volunteer groups and student interns to maximize unit efficiency and patient engagement. Maintaining Operational Safety: Ensuring all playrooms and specialized clinical materials are organized and maintained in a safe, clean, and sanitary manner. This Role Might Be For You If: You Are a Pediatric Advocate: You are deeply passionate about creating and delivering a differentiated healthcare experience for children with special needs and their families. You Excel at Adaptability: You enjoy balancing a diverse patient caseload and can seamlessly adapt therapeutic activities to suit a wide variety of complex medical diagnoses. You Drive Professional Growth: You actively contribute to personal and hospital development through involvement in research, professional organizations, and presentations to promote best practices. You Are a Strong Communicator: You possess the tact, enthusiasm, and professional judgment required to communicate fluidly across multidisciplinary medical teams. You Value Documentation Excellence: You take operational pride in logging precise outcome data and meeting strict clinical compliance deadlines. You Believe in Compassionate Healing: You understand that long-term recovery and patient comfort are optimized through structured vigilance, deep empathy, and open communication. To Be Considered: Education: Minimum of a Bachelor's degree in Child Life, Early Childhood Education, or a closely related human services field. Training: Successful completion of a formal Child Life internship. Experience: Proven work or volunteer experience directly supporting children with special needs. Physical stamina to lift and maneuver patients or therapeutic equipment is required. Certification: Active Child Life Certification is required. Must hold or obtain an active American Heart Association (AHA) BLS Provider Certification. License: Must possess a valid Driver's License and maintain the ability to safely drive hospital vehicles. At RWJBarnabas Health, our market-competitive Total Rewards package provides comprehensive benefits and resources to support our employees physical, emotional, social, and financial health. Paid Time Off (PTO) Medical and Prescription Drug Insurance Dental and Vision Insurance Retirement Plans Short & Long Term Disability Life & Accidental Death Insurance Tuition Reimbursement Health Care/Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts Wellness Programs Voluntary Benefits (e.g., Pet Insurance) Discounts Through our Partners such as NJ Devils, NJ PAC, Verizon, and more! RWJBarnabas Health is an Equal Opportunity Employer #J-18808-Ljbffr RWJBarnabas Health