A Day in the Life of a Franciscan Child Life Specialist

At Franciscan Hospital for Children, 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 the Hospital. In celebration of Child Life Month and the wonderful work that they do, we asked them to walk us through a typical day in Child Life and offer some insight into what makes Child Life at Franciscan so special.

8:00 AM | Kristen arrives to Franciscan to help a 5-year-old patient prepare for her Port Access procedure. To help ease the patient’s anxiety about the procedure, Kristen provides the patient with a doll that has a port attached to her chest along with medical play equipment to demonstrate what will happen. The patient independently acts out each step of a Port Access on the doll, all along telling Kristen how the doll is feeling; what hurts, what the doll is scared of, and what makes her feel better. When the nurses come in to access her Port, Kristen stays and provides distraction from the procedure in the form of games and toys. Kristen also encourages the patient to help with the process, and “teach” the nurses how it’s supposed to go!

8:15 AM | In the meantime, Courtney D. arrives to Franciscan and begins her responding to emails and filing paperwork. At 8:35am Courtney gets a page for an infant on the Pulmonary Rehabilitation unit who is having a blood draw. Courtney provides comfort measures to the patient including patting, pacifiers, and swaddling to help the baby relax during the procedure. When the laboratory technician is finished with the process, Courtney stays with the patient to rock and cuddle her until she is able to calm down and get her oxygen levels back up to normal… or maybe even fall fast asleep!

10:00 AM | Jaime has been gathering patients together in the playroom to be ready when the Pet Therapist arrives. Six children eagerly await the arrival of their furry friend Bandit, a mini Shitzu who visits the children as a part of Pet Therapy – an animal-assisted therapy that involves interaction with animals as a form of treatment. When Bandit arrives there are plenty of “Ahhhs” and “Can I hold him?” comments to be heard from patients around the room. Bandit is one of the Unit’s most popular guests, playing with the kids in the playroom and then visiting the kids at bedside who aren’t able to join the group visit. Jaime’s favorite question she gets during Pet Therapy is, “Can I keep him!?”

11:30 AM | Downstairs in the Operating Room (OR) Courtney W. is showing a new patient and his family a virtual tour of the OR while they wait in Pre-Op. Courtney teaches them all about what the room will look like, who they will meet as members of their care team, and how they will get their special sleeping medicine (anesthesia induction). Courtney gets out her special box of stickers and smelly chapstick so that the patient can decorate and personalize his anesthesia mask! Once the mask is sufficiently decorated in Spiderman stickers and smells like raspberries, Courtney takes the family in to OR, with the patient playing Angry Birds on the iPad to help him stay relaxed and fall asleep more easily.

1:00 PM | Ali is getting ready to work with a patient on the Pulmonary Rehabilitation unit. The patient is a one-year-old boy who does not have parents at bedside throughout the day, and Ali spends an hour providing developmental play. She takes him to the playroom, and covers the mat with toys galore! Ali puts him on the mat and he smiles widely at his freedom. No crib, no stroller, no chair – just room to move around and explore. Ali encourages him to meet some of his developmental goals through their play. She puts toys just out of his reach to encourage him to roll from his back to his stomach, sings song to try and encourage him to mimic the sounds, and helps him to learn how to stand up and scooch along a bench to promote walking.

2:00 PM | It’s time for music group! The whole Child Life team gathers about ten children from the inpatient medical units in the playroom, and one of the Hospital’s music therapists leads the kids in silly, interactive songs for forty-five minutes. Each child gets their own instrument and everything is adapted so that children of all capabilities can participate. Drums are strapped to the sides of wheelchairs for kids who cannot hold them and children who are not verbal receive voice output switches so they can participate in the singing. Among the favorite songs are always “Twist and Shout,” and the “Itsy Bitsy Spider.”

3:00 PM | The teenage patients from the inpatient medical units gather in the Teen Room for a game of Monopoly Deal with Lauren and Max, two of our weekly visitors from the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp! Lauren utilizes a card holder for one of our patients who cannot yet use his hands. The card holder enables him to independently choose which cards to play without anyone else seeing them, and Lauren helps by placing it on the table for him. In the meantime, Kristen is in the playroom with Max helping the younger kids to make icky, gooey, green, Slime!

4:00 PM | Courtney D. is upstairs on the Pulmonary Rehabilitation unit to work with a sibling whose little brother was born prematurely. Courtney uses a medical play doll to teach the sibling all about why her little brother has a G-tube and a tracheostomy. The girl gets to manipulate the medical equipment herself and ask Courtney questions about anything that she doesn’t understand. By the end of the session, she starts to feel a little more comfortable being around her little brother because now she has a better understanding of the fact that he can still do most of the things other babies can do!

5:00 PM | Before everyone goes home for the evening, the whole Child Life team goes upstairs with a pile of presents and instruments to celebrate a patient’s first birthday with their family! The team gathers staff members in the playroom to sing, celebrate, and enjoy some cake, while the family takes countless pictures of their little one wearing his birthday crown.

Is anyone else feeling tired yet?

As a group, Child Life specialists wear many hats! We all entered the field with the primary goal of making a difference in the lives of hospitalized children. We share a passion for transforming the hospital environment into one that is fun, child-friendly, and that fosters continuing development and growth. Sometimes that means teaching, sometimes it means playing, and sometimes it means holding a child in the midst of a tearful morning.

At Franciscan Hospital for Children, our Child Life program is special because we have the privilege of getting to form long-lasting relationships with patients and families. The average length of stay for our inpatient medical patients is 3-6 months, and in that time we are able to watch children make incredible progress with the expertise of our interdisciplinary staff.

When you start playing games with a patient who cannot move from the neck down, and nine months later he is walking next to you to go to the playroom to play that same game, it is hard not to feel an immense sense of privilege that you have had the opportunity to join him in that journey.

When you start by simply cuddling a five-pound, premature baby to provide comfort and soothing, and six months later they are leaving to go home – playing, smiling, and waving good-bye, it is nothing short of inspirational. Franciscan is a place where amazing change can happen in the lives of the children we serve and their families, and we all find great joy in being able to play a part in that progress.

To those interested in becoming a Child Life Specialist, our advice is to learn how to have no shame. Children don’t, so we don’t either! We constantly display embarrassing levels of silliness – dance parties are a common occurrence around here. The best way to relate to a child is to become one yourself. We all have it in us, it’s just about learning how to access it and, in the words of Elsa, let it go!