Internships
During the Spring of 2022, I had the pleasure of completing my 400-Hour Child Life Internship Placement at Boston Children's Hospital. In this semester, I worked in the Medical ICU and Radiology Unit, which allowed for a unique experience to observe both inpatient and outpatient populations.
In the radiology department, I worked with Certified Child Life Specialist, Angela Franceschi, to assess and support patient and family needs, presenting for VCUG exams. Our interactions and discussions centered around the developmental, environmental, social, familial, and psychological factors which all impact children and their caregivers in these medical environments. With guidance from Angela, I was able to plan and implement interventions for distraction, comfort, and coping support for children ages 2m-17y and caregivers present at the bedside. Since this was an outpatient setting, creating quick rapports was crucial as it helped foster trust and comfort prior to the procedures start. To assist with coping during these exams, I provided step by step education, deep breathing techniques, advocated for comfort hold positioning, and helped engage children with developmentally appropriate, diversional play. To best highlight the role of family centered care and benefit patient relations, I designed and created custom name boards to display in the radiology suites [see image].
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Working in the Medical ICU, with Certified Child Life Specialist, Lauren Dulude as my supervisor, I was able to continue this learning while applying skills of assessment and intervention to an inpatient, medically complex population. To best meet the needs of patients and families on 11S (the Medical ICU) I worked to familiarize myself with medical vocabulary, conditions, and equipment, through engagement with providers, academic materials, and weekly Boston Children's student assignments such as interviews and article reviews. In my role, I engaged in patient chart reviews, morning rounds, specialized in-services, simulation labs, and shadowing opportunities to best learn about the broad realm of settings, which child life staff can support in. Through observation of my supervisor and routine practice, I worked towards independently supporting patients and family needs of normalization, coping, and comfort. These goals were often facilitated with the provision of developmentally-appropriate play materials, medical play interactions, educational resources, multi-disciplinary staff referrals, and comfort items. Following these interventions, I performed patient documentation, initially supervised and then independently. As additional means of supporting the Medical ICU and its child life services, I was able to format weekly volunteer lists, organize and maintain supplies, and contribute to developmental strategies for long term patients. The Medical ICU was composed of patients with varying acuity and levels of care, which allowed me to support caregivers through many stages of coping along with observing periods of grief and loss. Under my supervisor's guidance I helped to support patients and family needs, during end of life care or following a patient's code alert. In addition, I became familiarized with legacy, milestone, and memory making projects through routine practice, a bereavement simulation, and engagement with caregivers.
My internship at Boston Children's was truly an exceptional experience, as it allowed me to see the academic principles of child life acted out each day. I feel that through such rigorous, routine practice I strengthened my skills of assessment, communication, and intervention, which I will continue to hone in my next internship setting. To access my final internship self evaluation please click the "Docx" button on the left hand side. To take at my goals, objectives, and semester specific work you can toggle to "Internships → Boston Children's Hospital".
In the fall of 2022, I had the unique opportunity to intern at Good Shepherd Community Care Pedi Pal under the supervision of Certified Child Life Specialist, Jessica Heirtzler. In this 200 hour internship placement, I visited patients in both the home and hospital setting to provide continuity of care, with a goals-based, family-centered approach. This exposure to a non-traditional child life setting offered a unique, educational perspective and helped to round out my experiences from Boston Children's Hospital, allowing for even more opportunities for assessment, intervention, and communication.
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After initial placement at Good Shepherd Pedi Pal, I felt it was important to speak openly and honestly with my supervisor about the fears and hopes I held for this internship. In my previous work, I had not yet been exposed to varied cases of bereavement or grief and wanted to fully understand the needs and best practices which underscore these life events. Considering this, we often spoke and debriefed after visits and discussed the ways in which I could tailor my approach to benefit the child and family through active, empathic listening. With Jessica’s guidance, I was able to identify the unique difference between palliative and hospice care, and went on to produce and present a powerpoint presentation about these differences to an audience of both clinicians and peers. Acknowledging this differentiation allowed me to better recognize the goals and needs of children and families, dependent upon their unique model of care.
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With foundational knowledge in place and newfound confidence surrounding interactions, I collaborated daily with my supervisor to schedule visits, perform interventions, plan and implement legacy projects, and facilitate offsite events [see image]. Through initial observational visits and supervision, I worked to create rapport with children and caregivers, familiarize myself with caseloads, and understand the unique needs which this patient population may hold. I interacted with a broad network of Good Shepherd pediatric palliative care clinicians including team administrators, nurses, social workers, music therapists, and spiritual care providers. In these meetings, I was able to familiarize myself with even more medical terminology, adding on to prior knowledge from my past internship placement. Additionally, I gained comfort communicating about the needs and goals of patients and families from a child life perspective, as I first observed my supervisor and then put these skills into practice. Opportunities for professional development this semester included a five week series about family engagement led by the Brazelton Touchpoint Center, the New England Child Life Professionals Conference, and the Pediatric Palliative Care Network Statewide Meeting.
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As I gained more comfort, experience, and familiarity in this setting, I shifted to working with a patient and family independently. In these interactions, I would communicate with the caregiver to schedule our visits then I would plan and implement developmentally-appropriate projects and provide support and coping to the family through listening and discussion as needed. Following all my visits, I practiced documentation, initially with Jessica’s supervision and then shortly after, independently. This routine practice allowed me to advance in skills of clinical judgment. Additionally, a unique aspect of Good Shepherd is the commute which we make to visit children and families, and thus I routinely worked to record and calculate accurate mileage to submit to administration. Along with my work following a family independently, during the second half of my internship, my supervisor often allowed me to lead visits and interventions. These interactions offered valuable practice and insight, allowing me to further tailor my practices to better meet the needs of children and families using hand-over-hand, eye tracking, and active listening. As Good Shepherd Community Care is both a hospice and palliative care organization, I was able to attend visits with both palliative care patients and the children of hospice care patients. In these visits, I saw firsthand the ways in which empathetic listening, developmentally appropriate verbiage, and memory making could hold value for the families which they serve. Engaging with these children, caregivers, and families offered valuable learning experiences as I grew to see illness, death, and grief in new ways through a range of emotions and developmental perspectives.
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I am unbelievably grateful for my internship placement at Good Shepherd Community Care Pedi Pal. Despite my initial nerves and hesitations, this setting and experience has offered me so much by way of learning, exposure, laughter, and value. As I move on to the next chapter of my child life career, I feel far more confident and comfortable in my skills of assessment, communication, and intervention, having honed them in two unique, multifaceted settings. To access my final internship self evaluation please click the "Docx" button on the left hand side. To take a look at my goals, objectives, and semester specific work you can toggle to "Internships → Good Shepherd Community Care: Pedi Pal".
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