Senior Child Life Specialist

Senior Child Life Specialist

Our team members are the heart of what makes us better. At Hackensack Meridian Health we help our patients live better, healthier lives and we help one another to succeed. With a culture rooted in connection and collaboration, our employees are team members. Here, competitive benefits are just the beginning. It's also about how we support one another and how we show up for our community.

Together, we keep getting better - advancing our mission to transform healthcare and serve as a leader of positive change.

The Senior Child Life Specialist utilizes child life interventions to provide a safe and nurturing environment where children and adolescents can enrich coping skills, address psychosocial needs, and increase understanding of issues related to medical experiences. Sr Child Life Specialists maintain the same responsibilities as the Certified Child Life Specialist with additional duties of providing supervision of CLS, CLA, onboarding, volunteers, and students. Sr. Child Life Specialist acts as a positive role model for team members.

A day in the life of a Senior Child Life Specialist at Hackensack Meridian Health includes:

• Assesses psychosocial and developmental needs of pediatric patients and develops care plans.
• Rounding and collaboration with the interdisciplinary team on designated units.
• Educates families about the patient's developmental and coping responses to illness and hospitalization.
• Provides individual and/or group support for children and adolescents inpatient and outpatient.
• Provides Child Life Services to patient and family members in accordance with the Association of Child Life Professionals (ACLP).
• Maintains records of practices and tracks trends for reporting as requested.
• Works in collaboration and communicates with the treatment team to enhance care to patients.
• Completes timely documentation in EPIC as required.
• Maintains child friendly and safe playrooms as designated.
• Participates in team programming, i.e. task forces and committees within department or hospital.
• Identifies the needs of the patient population served and modifies and delivers care that is specific to those needs (i.e., age. Culture, hearing and/or visually impaired, etc.) This process includes communicating with the patient, parent and/or primary caregiver(s) at their level (developmental/age, educational, literacy, etc.).
• Focuses on a Family Centered model of care.
• Responsible for coordination and implementation of Child Life Special Events, volunteers, child life students, material management, donations and adult consults.
• Supervises Child Life Specialists, Child Life Associates, volunteers and child life students in accordance with department, educational site and ACLP standards.
• Provide education about child life services to team members.
• Other duties and/or projects as assigned.
• Adheres to HMH Organizational competencies and standards of behavior.

Education, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required:

• Bachelor's Degree in Child Life or related field.
• Five (5) years of previous experience or Masters degree in Child Life or related field.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Proficient computer skills that include but are not limited to Google Suite and/or Microsoft Office platforms.

Licenses and Certifications Required:

• Certified Child Life Specialist.

Compensation Minimum rate of $64,313.60 Annually HMH is committed to pay equity and transparency for our team members. The posted rate of pay in this job posting is a reasonable good faith estimate of the minimum base pay for this role at the time of posting in accordance with the New Jersey Pay Transparency Act and does not reflect the full value of our market-competitive total rewards package. The starting rate of pay is provided for informational purposes only and is not a guarantee of a specific offer. Posted hourly rates may be stated as an annual salary in the offer and posted annual salaries may be stated as an hourly rate in the offer, depending on the level and nature of the job duties and credentials of the candidate. The base compensation determined at the time of the offer may be different than the posted rate of pay based on a number of non-discriminatory factors, including but not limited to:

• Labor Market Data: Compensation is benchmarked against market data to ensure competitiveness.
• Experience: Years of relevant work experience.
• Education and Certifications: Level of education attained, including specialized certifications, credentials, completed apprenticeship programs or advanced training.
• Skills: Demonstrated proficiency in relevant skills and competencies.
• Geographic Location: Cost of living and market rates for the specific location.
• Internal Equity: Compensation is determined in a manner consistent with compensation ranges for similar roles within the organization.
• Budget and Grant Funding: Departmental budgets and any grant funding associated with the job position may impact the pay that can be offered.

Some jobs may also be eligible for performance-based incentives, bonuses, or commissions not reflected in the starting rate. Certain positions may also be eligible for shift differentials for work performed on evening, night, or weekend shifts. In addition to our compensation for full-time and part-time (20+ hours/week) job positions, HMH offers a comprehensive benefits package, including health, dental, vision, paid leave, tuition reimbursement, and retirement benefits.

HACKENSACK MERIDIAN HEALTH (HMH) IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, breastfeeding, genetic information, refusal to submit to a genetic test or make available to an employer the results of a genetic test, atypical hereditary cellular or blood trait, national origin, nationality, ancestry, disability, marital status, liability for military service, or status as a protected veteran.