Child Life Services in Springfield
People in strange clothes, words you don’t understand, and medical equipment you’ve never seen. Hospitalization can be frightening for adults; imagine how scary it can be for children. Mercy Children’s Hospital employs child life specialists who focus on the psychosocial needs of pediatric patients and their families. They help reduce the stress and anxiety of a hospitalization by teaching your child about the procedure through medical and therapeutic play, and by distraction during medical procedures.
Child life specialists primarily work with pediatric inpatients on the Pediatric floor and in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), as well as other areas of the hospital upon referral.
Services Include
Pre-Op Party
Explaining what will happen before, during, and after surgery often helps relieve some of your child’s anxieties and fears. Our child life specialists offer a pre-op party each week to help prepare children for upcoming surgeries. If you’re interested in attending a pre-op party, please contact the Child Life Office at 417-820-2554 or 417-820-3457.
Procedural and Pre-operational Teaching
A child life specialist can give your hospitalized child developmentally appropriate explanations prior to medical procedures and surgeries. Children have the chance to explore medical equipment and look at pictures as a learning tool to better understand what will happen. This approach often helps reduce fears, anxieties, and misconceptions that pediatric patients may have about upcoming procedures and surgeries.
Distraction during Medical Procedures
Child life specialists often accompany a pediatric patient while having a medical procedure performed. A child life specialist may assist the patient with deep breathing and other relaxation techniques while utilizing guided imagery and toys for distraction.
Medical and Therapeutic Play
Medical and therapeutic play is another tool child life specialists use to assess a child’s understanding of medical procedures and the hospital environment. Children are given the chance to “practice” procedures on dolls and stuffed animals with adult supervision. This not only helps patients better understand their medical situation, but it also helps kids feel a sense of control at a time when they have limited choices.
Bereavement Support
Many children have to deal with grief and bereavement issues while in the hospital, such as death of a parent or sibling, loss of hair due to chemotherapy, or limited mobility because of an accident. Child life specialists provide therapeutic activities that allow children to express their feelings. They also provide parents with resources and information about children’s reactions to experiencing grief or bereavement.
Developmentally Appropriate Stimulation
Children learn through exploration. Patients admitted to Mercy Children’s Hospital have a variety of opportunities to continue normal growth and development. A child life specialist makes an informal assessment of a child’s developmental level, and then provides appropriate stimulation based on the child’s skills and medical condition. Child life specialists can help parents better understand their child’s development and advise parents on how they can support their child’s physical, social, intellectual, and emotional development.
Education and Emotional Support for Patients and their Families
Child Life Services provide emotional support for pediatric patients and their families and make referrals to other departments or agencies when needed. Child life specialists also help families understand how hospitalization may affect the family’s dynamics.
Child Life Internships
Child Life Internships are a prerequisite to applying to take the Child Life certification examination. Mercy Children’s Hospital offers a 500-hour internship for students who are in the final semester of a bachelor’s degree program. This program is supervised by Certified Child Life Specialists and offers hands-on learning opportunities, in addition to providing a theoretical framework of the psychosocial needs of hospitalized children. The internship adequately prepares students to function independently and effectively as a Child Life Specialist. Child Life internships are currently being offered in the spring and fall semesters.
Internship Application Letter (Read this first)
Click here to download an application (pdf)
Child Life Practicums
Practicums are designed to give persons that are pursuing a degree in Child Life or related field experience in a hospital setting. The curriculum of a practicum involves a variety of learning opportunities, including spending time with pediatric patients, shadowing a Certified Child Life Specialist, reading articles related to the Child Life profession, and completing projects to reinforce clinical teachings. If you are currently enrolled in a bachelor’s degree program and are preparing for attaining Child Life certification, please call 417-820-3457 to learn more about the practicum program at Mercy Children’s Hospital. Child Life practicums are currently being offered during the summer.
