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Community Hospice & Palliative of Florida is growing!  The Pediatric Department is actively looking for their next Child Life Specialist to join our growing team.  The Child Life Specialist helps pediatric patients and families (including siblings) understand and manage challenging life events, stressful healthcare experiences related to the child’s life-limiting, life-threatening condition and develop with the team opportunities to enhance quality of life through social support experiences.

Providing developmental, educational, and therapeutic interventions for children and their families, the Child Life Specialist helps reduce stress and anxiety many children experience because of medical care with resultant impact on the child’s family.  Sometimes this position requires occasional evening and weekend work.

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Position Details

• Work Location:  Jacksonville, Florida (Duval County) and surrounding areas; typically in hospital or home health settings
• Compensation: $59,000 to 61,000 base salary; plus any paid driving mileage; full benefits package including 23 days PTO annual
• Days/Hours: Monday - Friday 8:00am - 5:00pm
• Certifications Required: Must be certified as a Child Life Specialist by the CLCC at time of hire.

Job Responsibilities

• Develops, coordinates and participates in the planning and implementation of remembrance events, support and therapeutic events and support groups for patients and siblings specific to grief and loss.
• Develops and coordinates activities and groups specific to anticipatory grief and grief following a death of a pediatric patient.
• Provides therapeutic play activities which facilitate expression of feelings, coping skills and patients’ understanding of medical procedures/diagnoses as needed.
• Collaborates with the interdisciplinary team to screen for patients most appropriate for therapeutic interventions, social enhancement opportunities, teaching, psychosocial support, groups, activities and ongoing assessments.
• Develops individual plans of care based on assessment of the child’s need, development, temperament, coping style, medical plan, and available support.
• Provides patients and families opportunities for medical play, therapeutic play, memory making, distraction, activity modification, coping, and other child life-associated activities, to support the child and family and, as appropriate, normalize the situation.
• Provides appropriate pre-operative and pre-procedural teaching to reduce patient and family anxiety.
• Provides memory making and anticipatory grief/bereavement support to the child’s family through the course of the child’s sickness and progressive decline in status.
• Collaborates with pediatric social workers on patient/family psychosocial needs.
• Maintains ongoing inter-team communication related to patient/sibling responses to child life interventions and observations.
• Provides child-life focused education to parents/caregivers on topics to include child development, behavioral management, memory making, and coping strategies.
• Helps parents to understand their child's response to treatment and assist siblings to better understand their brother's or sister's illness/condition.
• Provides child life interventions to siblings addressing issues regarding illness, disease, or injury, treatment and prognosis appropriate to their developmental and coping levels.
• Utilizes and educates the child/parent on appropriate procedural support, medical play, and distraction techniques to increase knowledge and awareness of medical procedures and reduce patient anxiety during stressful situations.
• Educates patients, families and staff on child-life appropriate non-pharmacological pain/anxiety management techniques.
• Participates in professional groups and advisory boards related to pediatric hospice and palliative care.
• Provides hospital support for PedsCare patients and families to maintain continuity of care and communication with the hospital team.
• Partners with Dreams Come True and other community wish granting agencies to provide extended social support and quality of life experiences during illness or at EOL.

Recruiter Contact:
Derek Guffin, derek.guffin@aliviacare.com
Quick Apply!  Indeed or via Company Page

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About Community Hospice & Palliative Care
Established in 1979, Community Hospice & Palliative Care is an innovative national leader in palliative and hospice care, as well as providing programs and services to meet the diverse needs of the communities it serves. During its 42-year history, through the support of more than 1,000 employees and 1,000 volunteers, the organization helps approximately 1,600 patients per day to live better with advanced illness – at home, in long-term care and assisted living facilities, in hospitals and at its 10 inpatient care centers.

Education, Certifications, and Experience
Any combination of education and/or experience that would provide the required skill and knowledge for successful performance would be acceptable. Typical qualifications would be equivalent to:

• Bachelor’s degree in Child Development, Therapeutic Recreation or related field(s).

• ?Certified as a Child Life Specialist (by the Child Life Certifying Commission under the Child Life Council)

• CPR certification.

• Child development/Child Life experience, or related field experience preferred.

About Community Hospice & Palliative Care

Established in 1979, Community Hospice & Palliative Care is an innovative national leader in palliative and hospice care, as well as providing programs and services to meet the diverse needs of the communities it serves. During its 42-year history, Community Hospice & Palliative Care has served nearly 220,000 adults and children in Florida counties including Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties, and recently expanded its service area to include 11 counties in north-central Florida. This new service area allows us to serve hospice patients in Gainesville, Lake City, Palatka and their surrounding communities. Through the support of more than 950 employees and 1,000 volunteers, the organization helps approximately 1,500 patients per day to live better with advanced illness – at home, in long-term care and assisted living facilities, in hospitals and at its 10 inpatient care centers. The organization is committed to improving the quality of life for patients and their families and to be the compassionate guide for end-of-life care in our communities. No one is ever denied care due to an inability to pay.

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