Child Life Specialist

Position Summary

The Child Life Specialist supports pediatric patients and families by reducing stress, promoting coping, and enhancing the healthcare experience through developmentally appropriate interventions. This role collaborates closely with the interdisciplinary care team to assess psychosocial needs, provide therapeutic support, and create a safe, child-friendly environment that supports positive outcomes.

This position will support the Palliative Care team throughout inpatient units. This position will support the team as a psychosocial professional, collaborating with the team in their approach to patients and families navigating complex health care journeys. Interventions are multidisciplinary conversations with patients and families at bedside, education for palliative care fellows and palliative care champions, and communication within the health care team.

The ideal candidate is creative, compassionate, and an excellent communicator with strong interpersonal, organizational, and group facilitation skills.

Key Responsibilities

• Assess the developmental, emotional, social, and psychosocial needs of patients and families
• Provide child life interventions to support coping with illness, hospitalization, pain, bereavement, and loss
• Create a therapeutic environment that promotes comfort, safety, and positive coping
• Facilitate individual and group activities to encourage socialization and emotional support
• Collaborate with the interdisciplinary team and document interventions in the medical record
• Educate patients, families, staff, and the community on the psychosocial needs of pediatric patients
• Train and mentor interns, students, and volunteers
• Prioritize care for patients and families with the greatest psychosocial needs

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Child Life, Child Development, or a related field; Master’s preferred
• Child Life Certification required within one year of hire
• Strong knowledge of child development and pediatric psychosocial care
• AHA Basic Life Support (BLS) required

Salary Range: Minimum 23.02/hour - Maximum 36.83/hour. Compensation will be commensurate with equity and experience for roles of similar scope and responsibility. In cases where the range is displayed as a $0 amount, salary discussions will occur during candidate screening calls, before any subsequent compensation discussion is held between the candidate and any hiring authority.

The Hospital reserves the right to modify employee schedules as needed.

We are committed to creating a welcoming and inclusive environment, where we embrace and celebrate our differences, where all employees feel valued, contribute to our mission of serving the community, and engage in equitable healthcare delivery and workforce practices.

Johns Hopkins Health System and its affiliates are drug-free workplace employers.