Senior Child Life Specialist-Facility Dog Handler

Iowa, IA - USA

Monthly Salary: Not Disclosed

Posted on: Yesterday

Vacancies: 1 Vacancy

Job Summary

The Stead Family Childrens Hospital is seeking a Facility Dog Handler on our Child Life team. Within UI Stead Family Childrens Hospital: The Senior Child Life Specialist plans develops implements and evaluates comprehensive child life therapy programs and services within the scope of child life professional practice for pediatric and neonatal patients with complex and/or specialized needs. This includes educational recreational and therapeutic programs and activities that address and mitigate the developmental impact of illness and injury on infants children youth and families.

A primary facility dog handler implements the UI Stead Family Childrens Hospital Facility Dog program to provide outcome-focused goal-oriented animal assisted therapeutic interventions as part of the clinical care team to help pediatric patients and their families achieve health-related goals.

Provides child life clinical interventions utilizing the SFCH facility dog to promote healing play normalization of environment positive coping and motivation in meeting clinical treatment goals. Oversees and prioritizes the referral process for therapeutic visits with patients families and staff and demonstrates the ability to safely and effectively control manage and care for the dog.

Implements and provides quality interactions utilizing a SFCH facility dog in order to support the emotional developmental and psychosocial needs of pediatric patients in a health care setting. The CL facility dog handler provides opportunities for patients to gain a sense of mastery offers distraction and learning experiences assists patients in meeting medical goals and encourages family and peer interaction through facility dog interventions.

This child life specialist serves as the primary handler/caregiver for the SFCH facility dog during both work and non-work hours.

Position Responsibilities

Senior Activity Therapist-Child Life position responsibilities

Provide high quality patient care for children with complex or specialized needs including evaluation assessment and treatment appropriate for patients condition and age.

Serve on committees and actively participate in meetings to collaborate with a multi-disciplinary team in coordinating therapeutic programs for individuals and groups of patients.

Demonstrate a cooperative flexible and innovative problem-solving approach.
Serve as a clinical resource for others.
Create participate in and conduct in-service training sessions to staff and students.
Evaluate patient progress and document results.
Perform routine and assigned clinical and administrative tasks in an efficient manner.
Adhere to institutional and departmental standards.
Maintain effective working relationships with faculty staff students and the public.
Maintain confidentiality of patient information.
Exhibit a commitment to quality and process improvement including participation in the Quality and Safety Rounds on home unit.
Perform other special projects and tasks as assigned.
Demonstrate respect for all members of the University community in the course of performing ones duties and in response to administrators supervisors coworkers and customers.
Represent the interests of the University and of unit leadership in the use of resources to meet service and productivity demands within unit goals and budgets; strive to promote continual process and quality improvement.
Seek opportunities to enhance ones own professional knowledge skills and abilities as they relate to ones current position and/or to prepare for potential future roles and overall career development.

In addition to the above Senior Activity Therapist- Child Life position description the below responsibilities listed are required for the SFCH Facility Dog Handler to perform these responsibilities with or without an accommodation may result in disqualification from the position.

Serves as a handler for an assigned facility dog providing clinical interventions that meet the psychosocial need of patients and families while supporting medical staff across settings.

Develops and implements programming for facilitating dog support to pediatric patients families and staff. Support will include clinical settings urgent needs long term patients acute and chronic diagnoses and other high need patient populations as well as play and events that impact childrens socio-emotional needs.

Creates opportunities for public relations interest outreach events fundraisers and educational presentations about the SFCH facility dog program and its clinical impact for child life programming.

Collaborates with CL manager SFCH hospital leadership on grants for sustainability of the program. Maintains and initiates partnerships in the community.

A primary facility dog handler will demonstrate the ability to work independently and collaborate with other disciplines as well as members of their own department.

Demonstrate initiative in creative interventions using facility dog to reach unmet patient treatment goals.

Works collaboratively on the health care team and across hospital departments.

Maintains program statistics to assess and evaluate quality of programming.

Participates in the planning and implementation of special events and programming that involve the facility dog.

The primary dog handler/caregiver is responsible for the facility dog both during work and non-work hours (in and out of the facility) in collaboration with a secondary handler.

Attends specific dog handling training and maintains all requirements for dog handlers as contractually established by Canine Assistants and UI SFCH.

Education Requirements

A Bachelors degree in Child Life Child Development Recreational Therapy or closely related field or an equivalent combination of education and experience is required.

Experience Requirements

Minimum two years working with hospitalized children and their families as a certified Child Life Specialist in a pediatric healthcare setting.

Experience in providing procedural support to pediatric patients for a variety of medical experiences.

Demonstrated excellent written and verbal communication skills

This position requires a mastery of child life skills and knowledge to allow for focused growth on animal assisted interventions.

Flexibility with daily work and schedule is required.

The SFCH Facility Dog is a contracted employee who lives with and goes to work with their handler.

This position requires the facility dog handler to care for the SFCH facility dog 24/7. This includes but is not limited to:

Transporting the facility dog to medical appointments grooming appointments and to/from work each day.
Educating their own family members on the appropriate care of the SFCH facility dog.
In addition to daily patient care this employee is responsible for providing the SFCH facility dog with daily care breaks and appropriate assessment and communication of needs.

Desired Qualifications

Masters degree in Child Life Child Development Family Studies or closely related field.

Previous experience working with Animal Assisted Therapy dogs

Experience with care of animals

Three years experience as a certified Child Life Specialist in a pediatric child life program within an academic medical center

Experience in program development and/or participation in rolling-out new programs or incentives

Certification and Training Requirements

Completion of a recognized Child Life internship consisting of at least 600 hours under the supervision of a certified child life specialist

Certified Child Life specialist through the Association of Child Life Professionals (ACLP)

Upon hire must be trained and certified as an official dog handler by Canine Assistants

Position and Application Details

Successful candidates will be subject to a criminal background check and education/credential candidates will be required to self-disclose any conviction history and will be subject to a criminal background check. Up to 5 professional references will be requested at a later step in the recruitment process.

This position is not eligible for university sponsorship for employment authorization.

In order to be considered for an interview applicants must upload the following documents and mark them as a Relevant File to the submission:

Resume
Cover Letter

Job openings are posted for a minimum of 7 calendar days and may be removed from posting and filled any time after the original posting period has ended.

For additional questions please contact Lydia Messer at

Benefits Highlights

Fringe benefit package including paid vacation; sick leave; health dental life and disability insurance options; and generous employer contributions into retirement plans
TheUniversity of Iowa offers a generous benefits package including paid vacation and paid sick leave. Complete information regarding the full benefits package may be viewed at:Benefits University Human Resources - The University of Iowa ()

Additional Information

Compensation

Contact Information

Required Experience:

Senior IC

This child life specialist serves as the primary handler/caregiver for the SFCH facility dog during both work and non-work hours.

Position Responsibilities

Senior Activity Therapist-Child Life position responsibilities

Provide high quality patient care for children with complex or specialized needs including evaluation assessment and treatment appropriate for patients condition and age.

Serve on committees and actively participate in meetings to collaborate with a multi-disciplinary team in coordinating therapeutic programs for individuals and groups of patients.

Demonstrate a cooperative flexible and innovative problem-solving approach.
Serve as a clinical resource for others.
Create participate in and conduct in-service training sessions to staff and students.
Evaluate patient progress and document results.
Perform routine and assigned clinical and administrative tasks in an efficient manner.
Adhere to institutional and departmental standards.
Maintain effective working relationships with faculty staff students and the public.
Maintain confidentiality of patient information.
Exhibit a commitment to quality and process improvement including participation in the Quality and Safety Rounds on home unit.
Perform other special projects and tasks as assigned.
Demonstrate respect for all members of the University community in the course of performing ones duties and in response to administrators supervisors coworkers and customers.
Represent the interests of the University and of unit leadership in the use of resources to meet service and productivity demands within unit goals and budgets; strive to promote continual process and quality improvement.
Seek opportunities to enhance ones own professional knowledge skills and abilities as they relate to ones current position and/or to prepare for potential future roles and overall career development.