Why We Love (and Need) Child Life

At Franciscan Children’s, our Child Life Specialists work closely with children in our inpatient Pediatric Rehabilitation, inpatient Pulmonary Rehabilitation, and outpatient Surgical Services programs and can frequently be seen spreading their contagious, fun spirit throughout our campus. In celebration of Child Life Month and the wonderful work that they do, we asked staff and patients what they love the most about Child Life, and why it’s so important.

“What I love most about the Child Life team (there are many things!) is how helpful and generous they are to the patients, their families and the nurses as well. The generosity of the time they spend on the [medical rehabilitation] units as well as how truly happy they are to devote that time to the patients is truly inspiring. Working in a hospital isn’t always easy, but Child Life sure tries their hardest to make it as easy as possible, with a smile on their face the whole time.”

– Kristina, RN

“Child Life is the best part of a hospital stay for a child. They serve as a distraction from “reality” for these kids. Our Child Life Specialists swoop in and allow our kiddos to play like any other kid, giving them a break from the medical world. The way recess allows school-aged kids to reset and focus on classes, Child Life is the reset in the hospital setting and gives kids the energy and strength to fight to get better.”

– Alex, RN

“Child Life is a huge asset to [the Pulmonary Rehabilitation program] and the hospital in general, they are always present and willing to go above and beyond to work with our patients. It is an amazing feeling knowing that there is such a great support network of child life staff that are so ready to assist you with any needs. We truly do have a great Child Life staff!”

– Julie, RN

“Child Life Specialists provide the invaluable bridge between medical treatment and respecting the unique internal life of each child. They are my regular go-to for learning how a patient understands their environment and how best to enter their world.”

– Jessica, Expressive Arts Therapist

“Child Life Specialists are indispensable members of the mental health and medical teams as they offer insight into the child and family’s unique perspectives during moments of significant vulnerability. Child Life Specialists help to preserve the child’s psychosocial well-being and provide support when facing the myriads of challenges common to hospitalization.”

– Jessica, Music Therapist

“The diligence and dedication demonstrated by Child Life team is amazing to me. Their enthusiasm is great to see! Their assistance [when we need to do blood work for a patient] is very helpful, [we often can’t complete the task without them.] I have to say that Child Life makes my job a lot easier. I just want to say thank you to them, so much.”

– Delma, Phlebotomist

“I am constantly amazed by the breadth of work of a Child Life Specialist, and the impact they have on children and families.  Child Life has been so important to many of the nutrition problems we see; through medical play they’ve helped kids work with dolls to become familiar with a feeding tube before the child has a tube surgically placed, they’ve made fluid restrictions seem fun by making a graph and pictures that show a child how much they can drink in a day, and they’ve even created social lunches to normalize eating for patients with severely restricted diets or feeding problems. In short, Child Life Specialists are PHENOMENAL.”

– Julie, Registered Dietician

Thank you to our incredible Child Life team for their hard work in helping the children we serve reach their fullest potential and live their best life. We celebrate you not only during Child Life Month, but every day!