A Day in the Life: Shriners Children's Child Life Specialists

There is no such thing as a typical day for Shriners Children’s certified child life specialists.

Their schedule revolves around the heart of our mission – pediatric patients – and their needs rarely only fall between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Michelle Smith and Sarah O’Neal, certified child life specialists at Shriners Children’s Ohio, arrive early in the morning for the first scheduled surgery, and to greet families in the same-day surgery unit.

“We quickly assess the patient and family’s understanding of the surgery and the overall goal for the day,” Smith said. That’s when child life taps into a variety of preparation interventions, such as medical play where the patients can be hands on with medical tools and become the doctor, while a stuffed animal or doll is the patient.

“The interactive experience helps make kids more comfortable and empowers them to help their cuddly ‘patient’ cope with the procedure, which in turn, gives the patient confidence and acts as preparation for what to expect in their own procedure,” O’Neal said.

Child life specialists are also responsible for support in the outpatient clinic and inpatient unit, which at Shriners Children’s Ohio is usually filled with children recovering from an acute burn injury. Smith and O’Neal said, although a hospital stay can be scary for any child, there are unique stressors in a burn unit setting.

“Depending on the severity of the burn, patients undergo multiple daily procedures, like dressing changes, that can last hours,” Smith said. Similar to patients in the same-day surgery unit, child life specialists can be at the bedside to provide distraction and relaxation during dressing changes or needle pokes, and teach patients how to tap into or develop new coping skills.

Additionally, child life specialists meet one-on-one with inpatients and provide kids a safe space to talk about or play through their burn injury or hospital experience.

“We’re trained to meet children where they are,” O’Neal said. “Some kids are on bedrest, can’t leave their room, or are dealing with other limitations, so we will adapt activities to meet their needs, and sometimes even play for them until they can play for themselves.”