If there’s one quality that every child life specialist should have – it’s creativity; whether that takes the form of decor and education for the unit, arts and crafts activities for patients, or quick and creative solutions to problems – it is an absolute must! One of my favorite ways of expressing my creativity is…
Category: Imagination
creativi-TEA-party
Some days, we’re called to help with things that feel like it’s hopeless to even try… like pill swallowing and drinking water. “Could you help my six-year-old buddy learn to swallow pills?” “Oh sure, I’ll go grab my magic wand, wave it over his throat, and magically he’ll feel comfortable enough to swallow his pill.”…
Go With The Snow
It’s normal for Indiana to be hit with some real bad weather but there was one particular instance when we got hit HARD by Mother Nature and all of the snow she could possibly have wanted us to have she dumped right on us along with freezing temps (wind chills bringing us to -40 degrees)!…
Education Station: Chug, Chug, Toot Toot! All Aboard!
Providing education as a child life specialist can take on many different forms. Sometimes we provide education to patients as preparation for upcoming procedures such as an IV start, MRI, or CT scans. Sometimes we provide education to siblings and/or children of adult patients who may be visiting their relative for the first time. This…
Faith, Trust & a Little Pixie Dust
Early on in my child life career, we had a very unique situation happen at the hospital. One of the patients lost her tooth! She was so thrilled and showed nearly everyone who walked into her room the gap where her tooth once sat. I went to see it for myself and and asked her…
It’s a Beautiful Day in the Child Life Neighborhood
Child life has been around for years, but so frequently when I go into patient rooms for the first time and introduce myself, “Hello, I’m Jessica and I’m the child life specialist here today,” so many of them quickly ask, “And what is that?” before I have the opportunity to finish my sentence! Child life…
Child Life, Wild Life 