What Does a Child Life Specialist Do?

If your child was in the hospital and needed an IV inserted but they’re afraid of needles, wouldn’t it be nice if someone could support them, making the situation seem less scary? Child life specialists work with children and teens to do that and much more. 

A child life specialist works one-on-one with a child to prepare them for a procedure, to help them learn more about a new diagnosis or to provide empathetic support during end-of-life care. Child life specialists also work with parents and/or siblings during physically or emotionally challenging situations, supporting the entire family. 

What is a child life specialist? 

Child life specialists are trained professionals with a bachelor’s and/or master’s degree in child life studies, family development, education, psychology or a related field. They complete a 600-hour clinical internship under the supervision of an experienced child life specialist. They also pass a Child Life Certification Exam to receive the CCLS credential, which designates them as a certified child life specialist. 

Child life specialists have the expertise to help children and teens do hard things in hospital settings. They’re part of the care team, along with doctors and nurses, to provide support when a child is stressed or upset.  

How can child life specialists support children and teens? 

A child life specialist helps children through any number of challenging situations. They may: 

Assist during blood work or IV insertion. Some children and teens have a fear of needles, so they may cry or refuse the procedure. A child life specialist can talk to the child in developmentally appropriate terms. They might tell a young child that the nurse will put a rubber band around their arm, when it’s really a tourniquet. They’ll explain every detail beforehand, so the child knows what to expect: The swipe of cold rubbing alcohol, the poke that will be very quick, the reason why they have to stay still and more.

Child life specialists assess situations, based on a child’s feedback or body language. They might recognize that a child feels confident enough to have blood drawn without someone holding their arm, then communicate that to the nurse.

Child life specialists also answer questions. When a child learns more about a situation, their confidence increases. Afterwards, they feel successful, which makes it easier the next time they need blood work. 

Teach about a new diagnosis. After a child or teen receives a new diagnosis, a child life specialist can sit with them and use age-appropriate terms to explain what it means and answer questions. If a 6-year-old is diagnosed with cancer, they’ll have different concerns than a 16-year-old who’s diagnosed with cancer. If they ask, “What if I die?,” the child life specialist will be prepared to have a more complex conversation with a 16-year-old than a 6-year-old. Child life specialists are sometimes called to adult units to help a young child understand what their parent’s cancer diagnosis means and how it will affect the family. 

Help siblings. Parents often bring their children along when another child is in the hospital, particularly in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). A child life specialist can explain things, like IVs and tubes taped to the baby’s face, in an age-appropriate manner and answer siblings’ questions.  

Provide support when a parent is dying. Traditionally, in a pediatric hospital, child life specialists help pediatric patients who are dying, as well as the patients’ siblings. Here at ChristianaCare, child life specialists help the children of adult patients who are dying.  The child life specialists spend time with children to talk about death and grief, using developmentally appropriate language. They may offer the child the chance to say goodbye to their parent. If the child wants to say goodbye, child life specialists can show them photos of the parent, explaining what the tubes and monitors do, so that the child isn’t surprised or scared.

Many children don’t want to see their parent that way, but they’re happy to have had the chance to say goodbye… and the choice to do it, which parents may not think to offer in a traumatic moment. When a child visits a dying parent, the child life specialist can prompt them to talk about favorite family memories or hold their parent’s hand. (They also can provide support to the surviving parent.)

Child life specialists help with memory-making activities, like making commemorative handprints, saving hair locks or making crafts to remember the parent by. They help children connect with their loved ones as much as possible in the short time frame that they have. 

How do child life specialists interact with children and teens? 

Child life specialists spend time speaking with children, explaining things, asking questions, answering questions, giving choices and assessing a child’s comfort levels. They also talk to kids about feelings, including grief and loss. 

For younger children, child life specialists provide education through play. If a sibling in the NICU sees their baby with tubes and tape, the child life specialist can give them a doll and similar medical supplies, which the child can put on the doll themselves. 

Some techniques that child life specialists use involve distraction. They help children think about something other than the procedure at hand, which can decrease anxiety. A child life specialist may read a picture book while a child has an IV inserted, using the book as a barrier. If a child has a fear of needles, they may place a vibrating device on the arm above the injection site; the vibrations help distract the child from fear and pain. 

Child life specialists help kids feel less stressed about receiving care in medical settings. The coping techniques that they learn help guide them through the rest of their lives. 

Does ChristianaCare have a child life specialist? 

ChristianaCare’s child life specialist is in Newark, based in the Pediatric Care Center. When they’re needed in a different department, nurses reach out for support. Hospitals that have certified child life specialists recognize that the psychosocial part of the hospital experience is just as important as the medical experience. 

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