Editor's Note: Every March is Child Life Month, which is a wonderful spotlight for awareness on the field of Child Life. As part of our celebration, More Than Medicine will "spotlight" child life specialists from various areas of Le Bonheur Children's. Today's post marks our first with a look at our wonderful outpatient child life specialist.

By Jamie Droke
Child Life Specialist

In honor of National Child Life Month (March), we are continuing to explore the many different areas of the hospital our department covers. Last week we talked about how it is helpful and good to know that we cover so many different areas. Child life looks very different depending on the area in which you cover and this is especially true in our outpatient areas. This week, we will highlight our various outpatient specialists.

Child life specialists cover in four of our outpatient areas including the Emergency Department (ED), Outpatient Clinics, Same Day Surgery, and Radiology. The specialists in these areas take special care to cover their departments at the most busy times. Specialists in the Emergency Department cover all seven days of the week, working in the afternoon and night hours in order to be present during the most busy times in the ED. The specialist in Same Day Surgery arrives early enough to prepare and accompany (if needed) the earliest surgical cases each weekday. Although each area that is covered is vastly different, there are some common areas of expertise between the outpatient specialists. These specialists all help patients and families cope with the stress and anxiety of the hospital. They utilize age appropriate teaching and medical play to increase coping and compliance with procedures, tests, and treatments performed in the outpatient areas. These specialists spend a lot of their time providing

• Preparation for procedures/tests
• Distraction and relaxation
• Emotional support
• Pain management
• Pre-operative preparation
• Positioning for comfort
• New diagnosis teaching
• Compliance support
• Medical play
• Bereavement support

As you will see next week, this list is slightly different than the list for specialists in critical care. And of course, this list is not all-inclusive. The different areas have special needs that specialists assist with on a daily basis. The best news is that if you have to visit any of these four areas, you are likely to encounter someone from our team. Next week we will spotlight the specialists who cover the critical care areas. In the meantime, Happy Child Life Month!!!