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All In A Day's Work: Child Life Specialist
Betsy Brand, a certified child life specialist at Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota's St. Paul campus, talks about her job.
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Betsy Brand, a certified child life specialist at Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota's St. Paul campus, talks about her job.
Q: What's a typical workday like for you?
A: I work on a medical-surgical unit and coordinate with the medical team the patients' developmental, medical and psychosocial needs. As part of the team, I help prepare patients and their families for medical procedures. I also help support and distract kids from pain with play and encourage mastery of their hospitalization through normal childhood activities.
Q: How does your role fit into the bigger healthcare picture?
A: As a child life specialist, I am an integral part of the healthcare team with a primary focus on promoting normal growth and development while facilitating coping and adjustment to enhance medical experiences.
Q: Who do you interact with during the course of the day?
A: I interact with children, parents, doctors, nurses, care managers, clinical support associates, and other psychosocial team workers such as social workers and chaplains. I work with "the pain team," which includes nurse practitioners, nurses and doctors. I also interact with occupational, physical, speech and music therapists; health unit coordinators; volunteers; and housekeepers.
Q: Why did you become a child life specialist?
A: I wanted to work with children and their families in a healthcare setting and make a difference in their time in the hospital.
Q: What do you like about your work?
A: It's rewarding to see a patient cope and adjust successfully; that's the "wow" factor that reinforces the importance of child-life presence on the team.
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