{Child Life}

Child Life Specialists help to make the hospital experience less stressful on children and their families

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    I love the field of Child Life and enjoy having this blog to network, learn, and share information with other people who are already in the field, or interested in pursuing a career in it. I post anything and everything from internships, to tips for parents, and Child Life in the news. I graduated from the University of Utah last year with my BS in Human Development and Family Studies with a Child Life Emphasis. I am currently planning on applying for the Child Life Internship at Primary Children's Medical Center in the fall. For readers who are new to the field, Child Life Specialists help to make the hospital experience a less scary one for children and the entire family. They aim to do this by providing step by step procedural preparations including informing the child (in an age appropriate detail) about what they will hear, smell, touch, taste, and see during a test or surgery. Child Life Specialists also provide developmentally appropriate play, distraction during tests, emotional support to the patient as well as the entire family, sibling education and support, and bereavement support if necessary. If you have any questions, comments, or information you would like to see here, I would love to hear from you! Feel free to contact me at sweetblueair[at]gmail.com

Nov 06 2008

Chicago Here I Come!

Published by wordsforeverything at 12:14 am under Uncategorized Edit This

I am incredibly excited because I have been offered an internship at Lutheran General Children’s Hospital in Park Ridge, Illinois. Park Ridge is a suburb of Chicago. I love many aspects of their internship program including the fact that their Child Life Program was started in 1969, the last four weeks of my internship I will have personal choice as to what units I want to work on, and they have Teen Life Specialists and a separate Adolescent Unit. This facet means a lot to me personally because it was a tough time for me in my own medical history. I start my internship on January 12th. I’m ready to move forward in my career as a Child Life Specialist and it’s so great that it’s happening now! I feel like Lutheran General Children’s is a great fit for me and my learning style and I am extra pumped that their program focuses so much on preparation for the certification exam. I’m not taking the exam until May, but I’m already incredibly nervous! I know it is a difficult test. So it really is a huge help to know I will be getting information I will need in order to have my best chance of passing. I am going to Chicago on Friday so I can tour the hospital and look for places to live. I’m psyched!

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6 Responses to “Chicago Here I Come!”

  1. # Colleenon 11 Nov 2008 at 12:47 pm edit this

    I discovered your blog a few weeks ago while searching for child life information and was so excited today to log on and see that you will be taking an internship at LGCH. I volunteered there for several months, and grew up in Park Ridge. It is an excellent program and an excellent place to live! I now work as a CCLS in Chicago. If you need any resources about places to live, what to do in Chicago, etc. feel free to e-mail. Congrats!

  2. # Angieon 12 Nov 2008 at 8:11 pm edit this

    Congrats on your internship placement! Get ready for a wonderful ride!

  3. # Lisa Fieldon 20 Dec 2008 at 11:47 pm edit this

    How exciting that you have found an internship! I am just beginning my Child Life journey and am not to the internship point yet, but I know it is tremendously stressful. May you have an internship filled with lots of great experiences and of wonderful people.

    Lisa Field

  4. # Ginion 08 Feb 2009 at 5:06 pm edit this

    Congrats!!!! I love that program too I just interviewed for the Summer 09 one. It’s soooo amazing there! I am in love with it and hope I get it. How did it go for you?

  5. # Kellyon 25 Feb 2009 at 2:16 pm edit this

    That is great, I hope you are enjoying it. I was born at LGH and everyone I know has been there for something or other.

    It’s a fantastic hospital and Park Ridge is an incredible place. I am only 10 minutes from there!

    ~Kelly
    http://www.30somethingandsearching.today.com/

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