When a child is sick and at the hospital, doctors and nurses are there to make them better.
But that’s not all.
Child Life Specialists are also helping children every single day.
March is Child Life Specialist month and there are a number of great people working with the children who are at Covenant Children’s.
These Child Life Specialists not only make the hospital feel more like home, but they are advocates for the children, making sure they know exactly what’s going on during their stay or during a surgery.
“I love the idea of a kid coming to the hospital and being nervous or scared and me just be able to walk in and be that bright friendly person and being that person they can trust and let them know that they are safe,” explained Child Life Specialist Leslie Wells.
Wells does that by getting on their level and incorporating play into what’s going to happen during surgery from start to finish.
Child Life Specialists are seen all throughout Covenant Children’s.
“It’s making sure that their needs are taken care of,” said Child Life Specialist Nikki Blalock. “Sometimes it’s just as easy as bringing in a coloring book and crayons to the child and it just helps put them at ease.”
“It’s really important to get to know them to build that rapport,” explained Child Life Specialist Kathryn Pylant. “So then when it is time to have an IV started or go for a scan we can help develop a coping strategy for them.”
And it’s not just for the kids, but the families too.
“When a child is sick it affects the entire family,” Pylant said.
All three Child Life Specialists said helping families is their favorite part of their jobs; and they hope they can make the hospital stay a little better everyday.
Child Life Specialists will also do special things for the kids to make them feel more at home.
But they can’t do this without the community’s help.
“We rely solely on donations to get a lot of our supplies,” said Blalock. “If we didn’t have those donations that come throughout the year we wouldn’t be able to have all these supplies.”
If you would like to help donate, call Covenant Children’s at (806) 725-0000.
