Elective Years 1 and 2: Child Life

Department: Pediatrics
Title:

Child Life
Location: Stollery Children's Hospital
Duration:

12 hours
Contact:

Preceptor: Dr Sarah McKillop Sarah.McKillop@albertahealthservices.ca

Stephanie Wanner stephanie.wanner@albertahealthservices.ca
Brittany Lissinna  lissinna@ualberta.ca
Overview: Child Life Specialists are an integral part of the health care team in Pediatric hospitals.  A Child Life Specialist's goal is to minimize medical trauma for kids and teenagers in the hospital.  TO accomplish this they provide support by:
  • Providing pre-procedural teaching/preparation
  • Supporting during procedures
  • Offering non-pharmacological pain management
  • Offering opportunities for normative play to help reach a child's developmental milestones
  • Supporting families
While shadowing and working with the Child Life team at the Stollery, the goal for this elective is for you to become more familiar with the unique skill set of Child Life Specialists and understand how their approach to interactions with patients and families can be translated to how you provide care to patients and incorporate the multidisciplinary team.
Objectives:
  1. Understand the unique role child life specialists play on a child's health care team
  2. Recognize a child's unique perspective on illness and hospitalization
  3. Identify and demonstrate communication strategies that can support children through their hospital experience
  4. Understand the importance of a teamwork approach to care of pediatric patients
Additional Notes: To arrange this elective, please contact Stephanie Wanner stephanie.wanner@albertahealthservices.ca
Last Updated: November 23, 2022