Child Life Assistant

Job Description:

The Child Life Assistant Interacts directly with pediatric patients, families, and other healthcare team members and facilitates age-appropriate activities to help make the healthcare experience easier for patients and families. Under the direction of a child life specialist, the child life assistant provides activities in a play setting that reduces patient and family distress, increases effective patient and family coping, fosters patient independence, and promotes optimum development. This role is designed as a career path toward other child development roles and most Child Life Assistants are working towards child life certification through the Association of Child Life Professionals while earning a degree and certifications.

Posting Specifics 

• Entry Rate: Based on experience

• Shift Details: PRN, Part-time (16 hrs/wk & 26 hrs/wk) positions available. May include Weekdays, Weekends and Holidays. (see additional details below for more information)

• Location: All positions are onsite at Primary Children's Hospital - Salt Lake City

Additional Details:

• PRN position - Must work 6 shifts per month. Shifts may include weekdays, weekends, and/or holidays.
  Shifts may be available in the FYZ Playroom, Teen-Room, Kids-Clubhouse, NICU, and Oncology units. 
  Shift length is dependent on area covered, varies between 8-10 hours
   

• 16 hrs/wk position - Shifts are EVERY Wednesday and Thursday (8:30am - 5:00pm). Must be able to work weekends, shifts may include holidays. Shifts are in outpatient Kids Clubhouse

• 26 hrs/wk position - Shifts are EVERY Saturday (9:00am-5:30pm), Sunday (9:00am-5:30pm), and Monday (8:30am-7:00pm). Must be able to work weekends, shifts may include holidays.
  Shifts are in the Forever Young Playroom, Teen Room, Hope Garden, and outpatient Kids Clubhouse

• Child Life Assistants work under the direction of a child life specialist to provide therapeutic safe environments, developmentally appropriate activities, play-based interventions, and support to patients and families. 

• Child life assistants also coordinate volunteer training and scheduling.

• Experience with children and knowledge of Child Development is necessary.

• Knowledge of child cognitive, social and skills of child development

• Ability to communicate effectively in Spanish, including knowledge of medical terminology in Spanish, to support diverse patient needs

• Enthusiasm for data collection, statistics, and proficiency with Excel

Required Qualifications 

• Demonstrated experience working with healthy children or children in a medical or hospital setting 

• Knowledge of child development 

• Computer experience in word processing, spreadsheets, and databases or similar applications 

• Able to work independently and be organized 

• Ability to work in a stressful environment related to patient needs including acute, chronic, and complex disease, and grief and bereavement 

• Maintains appropriate boundaries with patients and families 

 

Preferred Qualifications  

• Associate or bachelor’s degree 

• Working towards child life certification through the Association of Child Life Professionals 

• Work experience as a child life assistant. 

• Completion of child life pre-internship/practicum  

• Completion of a 600-hour child life internship. 

• Spanish speaking 
   

Essential Functions 

• Accurately assesses and prioritizes developmental needs of the pediatric patient and family and updates child life specialist when patient needs are outside scope of practice.  

• Develops, implements, advertises, and evaluates developmentally appropriate play/recreational activities and directs parents, students, and volunteers in providing developmentally appropriate toys to patients and families in play space. 

• Screens and transports patients to play areas, completes appropriate check-in guidelines and policies to ensure child safety and assists in coordinating special events, holidays, and special visitors.  

• Maintains a clean, safe environment in accordance with infection prevention and safety standards. 

• Monitors and provides a supportive child-friendly environment in play spaces; supervises, orients, and trains students and volunteers as needed.  

• Assists with ordering, receiving, organizing, and distributing supplies. 

• Supervises and independently leads the facility “Kids Clubhouse,” coordinating the work of the volunteers in those spaces.  

 

Skills 

• Relationship building 

• Supervision  

• Teamwork 

• Critical thinking 

• Communication 

• Interpersonal skills 

• Patience 

• Decisiveness 

• Emotional intelligence 

• Creativity 

Physical Requirements 

• Frequent interactions with patient care providers, patients, and visitors that require employee to verbally communicate as well as hear and understand spoken information, alarms, needs, and assess issues quickly and accurately, particularly during emergency situations to maintain safety   

• Ongoing need for employee to see and read information, documents, monitors, identify equipment and supplies, and be able to assess customer needs.  

• Manual dexterity of hands and fingers to manipulate complex and delicate equipment with precision and accuracy. This includes frequent computer use for typing, accessing needed information, etc.  

• Expected to lift and utilize full range of movement to transfer patients. Will also bend to retrieve, lift, and carry supplies and equipment. Typically includes items of varying weights, up to and including heavy items. 

Location:

Intermountain Health Primary Childrens Hospital

Work City:

Salt Lake City

Work State:

Utah

Scheduled Weekly Hours:

16

The hourly range for this position is listed below. Actual hourly rate dependent upon experience. 

$21.02 - $29.72

We care about your well-being – mind, body, and spirit – which is why we provide our caregivers a generous benefits package that covers a wide range of programs to foster a sustainable culture of wellness that encompasses living healthy, happy, secure, connected, and engaged.

Learn more about our comprehensive benefits package here.

Intermountain Health is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status.

At Intermountain Health, we use the artificial intelligence ("AI") platform, HiredScore to improve your job application experience. HiredScore helps match your skills and experiences to the best jobs for you. While HiredScore assists in reviewing applications, all final decisions are made by Intermountain personnel to ensure fairness. We protect your privacy and follow strict data protection rules. Your information is safe and used only for recruitment. Thank you for considering a career with us and experiencing our AI-enhanced recruitment process.

All positions subject to close without notice.