Child Life Wild Life
Jessica Lewin, CCLS & The Child Life Mentor, sits down with Certified Child Life Specialists, students, and professionals to talk about topics surrounding the field of child life. Come and gain tangible next steps and confidence as you learn how to use your child life skills, protect your mental health, and glean inspiration, hope, and ideas. I'm so happy you're here!
Child Life Wild Life
The Wild Life of ED/Trauma Bay Experiences with Kelsey Champion
Certified Child Life Specialist, Jessica Lewin, talks with friend and CCLS, Kelsey Champion, about her almost decade experience working in the Emergency Department; a department she wasn't quite sure she'd land in originally, but has really found her calm in the chaos.
Navigating the high-stakes world of an emergency department requires a special blend of skills and heart, something Kelsey Champion possesses in abundance. As she shares her behind-the-scenes stories from the trauma bay, you'll be captivated by her ability to swiftly forge connections with young patients in crisis.
Amidst the urgency of alarms and the precision of medical staff, Kelsey reveals the nuanced dance of nonverbal communication and patient advocacy that can turn a frightening experience into one handled with understanding and care. Her insights into the child life specialist's role during trauma activations are eye-opening, showing us how integral these professionals are to the pediatric healthcare team. Her stories underscore the profound effect of their presence, not just for the patients, but for the medical personnel who rely on them to bring empathy and clarity to the chaos.
Join us for this inspiring journey through the eyes of a professional who embodies the dedication and compassion at the heart of pediatric emergency care.
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With these trauma rooms. Everyone wants to be in their room and as a teaching facility we have students who want to be in the room, so it can be overwhelming and they'll call for an on essential people to leave the room and thankfully I'm not part of that. I get to stay in the room.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Child Life Wildlife Podcast, a platform dedicated to sharing the honest ins and outs and vulnerable truths about the child life profession. With your host, jessica Luhann, come and gain tangible next steps and confidence as you learn how to use your child life skills, protect your mental health and glean inspiration, hope and ideas from fellow certified child life specialists, students and professionals. And now here's your host, jessica Luhann.
Speaker 3:Hello and welcome to the Child Life Wildlife Podcast. Today I have on the show Kelsey Champion. She has been a child life specialist for nine years, working predominantly in the ER. She brings a really great perspective on what it's like working in trauma bays. This was a topic that I knew a lot of students and specialists who aren't super familiar with working in the ER had questions about, and so this was just a really really great episode to learn about all things emergency department related. We talk about building rapport in the ER, ways that she's had to advocate for her position, unique aspects of working in the emergency department and biggest moments of growth. So, without further ado, here is my conversation with Kelsey Champion on what it's like working in the emergency department and trauma bays as a child life specialist. Hi, kelsey, thank you so much for being on the Child Life Wildlife Podcast.
Speaker 1:Hi Jessica, Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 3:I'm excited for this conversation about the ER and trauma bays, but before we dive into all of that, I would love to just take a second to get to know you a little better. So, really, who you are, fun facts or anything that you'd like me and my listeners to know about you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I'm an aunt of five, almost six. I'm also on the item writing committee for the ACLP, which is kind of cool. And then, kind of a random fact, I have a pretty serious side hustle as a dog sitter, and so that's kind of what I do on my spare time hanging out with dogs. Tell me a little bit more about that. Yeah, I don't know, it kind of started just a friend asking me to walk her dog when I got off my shift in the middle of the night.
Speaker 1:She worked night shifts and I got up at midnight and so, yeah, it was kind of funny saying, oh hey, I'm a night dog walker. And then I stopped that and then people were like, oh, like you like dogs, right, yeah, and can you come stay with my dog while I'm on vacation? And so then, just like by word of mouth, I, friends of friends, of friends, you have me come over and while they're on vacation. So I'm not the biggest here in the dogs, but it's fun.
Speaker 3:Oh my gosh, that is wild, that's awesome. Let's take a second to rewind and talk a little bit about your educational background and what prior roles or hats you've worn during your time as a Child Life Specialist.
Speaker 1:So I was fortunate enough. I knew about Child Life when I was in high school.
Speaker 1:I'd heard about it and was able to do a little bit of research, go to Child Life 4-1 session in high school, and so decided this is what I want to do and so went to school for that and so my undergraduate degrees in the development of family studies under the umbrella of educational psychology. From there I got my master's degree in Child Life and then did my practicum, did my internship and then, after I finished my internship, I was applying for jobs. But an opportunity for a fellowship came up and so applied for that and it honestly was a really great experience for me. I was certified by the time that I started my fellowship. I passed the Certification.
Speaker 2:Museum.
Speaker 1:So acting as a Child Life Specialist but having a closer kind of mentorship and closer supervision as I'm providing support to these patients, was hard because nobody likes to have someone like it's hard to having someone shout at you, right. But it was really really good for me and I really benefit from having feedback and I'm very self-reflective into having that extra opportunity and just to really grow my confidence, really grow my skills, and that led into me working into the ER and so in the ER I've been an ER specialist for over nine years and in that time have mostly been or I've worked in a couple of different ERs, both for the level one trauma facilities, both free standing children's hospitals. In addition to working in the ER, I've been on a committee that responds to consults in a local adult hospital for children of adult patients and so things like that. Been on different committees, helping with students, helping having shout opportunities like that. We just had a practicum student. So that's kind of the different things that we've been doing.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's actually. I feel like the ER is a place that can have so much turnover, so the fact that you've been there for nine years, I think, really says something. That's awesome.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I love it still to this day, so yeah, Did you always have a passion for this fast-paced setting? No. So when I first heard about Child Life Back when I was a student, I was like I wanna work with the oncology patients.
Speaker 1:I wanna build their rapport with those patients, have those long-term relationships, to get to be there from the beginning to the end and then really with both my practicum and my internship and even my fellowship, those experiences working inpatient and with a chronic population or even working one of my rotations was with the oncology clinic. I just had a hard time feeling successful in those interventions and I don't know if it was because as a student I was only there for a short window of their stay and so it's harder for me to be able to see how my smaller interventions are making an impact. But those I had opportunities in our day surgery area, our radiology area, our outpatient clinic, things like that, and I found myself feeling more successful, being able to go in Okay, my goal is to help provide preference, support for this procedure XYZ and so being able to go in with a plan, being able to implement my intervention and assess how that went to me, evaluate. I really benefited from that kind of immediate feedback and so I hadn't.
Speaker 1:Even with my experience as a student I didn't really have a. I think maybe in my fellowship I shadowed a couple of times in the ER but otherwise didn't have a rotation in the ER. I didn't really know what to expect, but at the time that I was applying for a job after my fellowship at this hospital, there are a couple of different positions open inpatient, and then the ER and so I was talking with one of the supervisors there just kind of reviewing my experience, how I felt about things. She really helped guide me into thinking like, okay, maybe the ER is kind of scary and intimidating, but I do feel like I have the skill set that is more applicable and I would feel more successful and the ER might actually be a good fit, even though it's nothing that I would have ever thought about and nothing I would have considered and didn't think I could hang you know and so.
Speaker 1:but yeah, so it was really helpful having someone to help, kind of guide me and kind of show me that I could do it. So and I do have those skill sets from just my different experiences. So yeah, For sure.
Speaker 3:That's cool how you even just had a mentor or somebody who could zoom out with your skills and say, like you actually do have these skills and this would be a good fit Cause, yeah, maybe you would have gone in the inpatient route and been miserable, but you thought, like that's what I want. I think, but yeah, that's awesome. So when we think about child life, there is no typical day. But if you had to think about routines or pillars, or things that are just common throughout your days, what would that look like?
Speaker 1:So you're right, especially in the ER, no day is the same and that's what I love about it. But again, we are a level one trauma center and so we see a wide range of patients. Common things I see in the ER or IVs, of course, laceration repairs. We do lumbar punctures every once in a while. We do chest tube insertions. We provide preparations for surgeries if they're gonna be going to the OR. We provide support to patients if they are coming with a new diagnosis. Hopefully we've already been involved with these patients. If they're calling us for an IV, we're providing procedural support and then we do imaging. We find these results on these scans and so while I'm not gonna provide a full fledged new diagnosis education right in the ER, I can at least get the family and the patients at it for success. Explaining just like my job is to help support you in the ER. If you're going to meet someone who will help support you for the rest of your journey.
Speaker 1:They help with so helping the family know that they will receive the support. Even though they might be really overwhelming now, they will have the support that they need to get through. And so just kind of helping to set up them for success. And so the way that we are involved in these procedures is we have a phone we have three phones and our consults are mostly through phones and so it's mostly our nurses or our techs who are calling us, and so every once in a while we have a resident which are a teaching facility and so every once in a while we'll have residents who will put an electronic consult for us. It's a little bit more official whenever they want help with procedural support for things that they're doing. But most of what we do is call basis and so when I get in for the day I'll pull up the board.
Speaker 1:At this point I can look at the board and I can kind of get an idea based on the chief complaint, the age, and I can kind of guess what orders are going to be ordered and so then, I can kind of see OK, they're going to probably need to do an IV on this patient, or they're probably going to need to do stitches on this patient, or they may or may not want to use sedation medication for the patient, and so I can kind of start prioritizing mentally and then we'll go up and around with staff and so, while we do get a lot of great consults just from our phone, of course if we're on the unit rounding, the staff are more likely to grab us and say, hey, I'm going to go back, to go into this room, can you come with me? Or hey, I need to just do this exam real quick. And they were kind of hesitant with just their vital signs Can you come with me for this? And so we also are holding that way for consults.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So yeah, when we look at like the trauma bays because I think that's that's one that when I was asking people what they wanted to know about the ER everybody was like find somebody that works in the trauma bay that can have a spot at the table in the trauma bays. So what does the role of a child life specialist look like in the trauma bays and have you had to advocate or how have you felt supported in that role when you're in the trauma bays?
Speaker 1:I'll first kind of set the stage so our trauma bays. When a patient comes into our trauma room, it's typically for three different reasons.
Speaker 1:I'll say so first and foremost. Most obviously, we do have traumas that come in, and so we have two different levels of traumas that we are required to respond to, and so if a patient comes in, they'll either come in from the scene or they'll be transferred from an outside hospital. So we, per policy, as child life specialists in our facility, are required to respond to these traumas, which is great, that's great. So one thing to consider if you're working in a hospital and trying to get more involved with these traumas, look at your hospital policies and see, is child life already mentioned in that policy? Is someone who's required to respond, or who can you talk to to maybe look at that? And so, thankfully, the stage is set for us. If they're awake and alert, we are expected to be there, and then, less officially, in the ER.
Speaker 1:If a patient comes in by private vehicle or maybe EMS and they don't necessarily meet criteria for a trauma activation, they'll still come in either pretty sick or pretty hurt, and we'll still need that immediate attention. And so they will call what we say a critical activation overhead, and so they'll say we need a CC team to whatever room. And so we, as well, responded to those. If you think about it, it's run like a trauma. All of the ER personnel that needs to respond to trauma is there, except, and just not that, extra support services, not anesthesia and not surgery, things like that. At that point we'll consult a specialty services as needed, and so we do respond to those as well. Those are the kinds of patients that come in. Like I said, if they're awake and alert, we're expected to be there, and that's I mean. I've been in there for infants all the way through, teenagers something I tell my staff and new specialists that want to orienting your students, as long as you're being helpful, like they're not going to kick you out of their room, like either.
Speaker 1:If you have a purpose, they'll want you in that room, and so they. Thankfully, we have a good rapport with our ER staff that they know the benefits that we provide, and so I do feel very, very supported, even small things of like. Let me kind of go back. When a patient comes in, if they're awake and alert, my role is I'll be at the head of the bed, kind of in the corner between the respiratory therapists and the tech, which, with these trauma rooms, everyone wants to be in their room and as a teaching facility we have students who want to be in the room, so it can be overwhelming and they'll call for an on essential people to leave the room and thankfully I'm not part of that. I get to stay in the room.
Speaker 1:That being said, I'm in people's way. I am next to the respiratory therapist, I'm next to the tech, and whenever they first pull and get into their room, I'll look over so they can see me. My name is Kelsey. My job's to talk with you. I'll be explaining everything that they're doing. I'm all kind of popped down closer to their ear so that way they can hear me, but not the rest of the team can hear me, so there's a lot of noise. People are giving reports, we have our team, they'll do primary and secondary assessments, and so people are calling out things, and so I want to be able to provide support to the patient quietly.
Speaker 1:So that way the patient can hear me, but I'm not interfering with what's going on above me. At the same time, though, I'm wanting to pay attention to what they're saying, or staffful, kind of pull up a turnic and say, hey, kelsey, and so they'll indicate that hey, I'm about to do an. Iv.
Speaker 1:So, as I'm explaining everything else that's happening, I can go ahead and start talking about the IV, like even those small things that people giving me a heads up or like indicating what they're going to do, so communicating that to me, so I can communicate that to the patient, like I even feel so supported in that. So that's really great and our role can look differently for a different awakened or patient. Sometimes, if we have a patient that comes in and maybe if they're altered or if they're really combative, we can help to assess. Okay, are they combative because they're anxious, or are they combative because they have a head injury, or are they combative because it's a behavioral thing? Or or if.
Speaker 1:I'm talking with a patient who is saying the same thing over and over again, I can communicate that to staff. Like he's not really responding to like what I'm saying, or I hear him saying the same thing over again, maybe indicating pieces and cuffs, or even just being at the head of the bed and kind of watching their nonverbal facial responses, and so when we're doing IVs and other procedures, I can indicate, hey, he didn't really win, he's not really responding to that. And then when we, we at one point will wobble and onto the side. So I'll be facing them face to face and so we'll be that person and they'll have prepped him that we're going to be touching down their back and I can be that person. And it's hard for them oftentimes if they don't want to speak up.
Speaker 1:I'll be that voice for them of saying yes or no, yeah, so staff can hear if the patient is having any pain there, so it kind of things like that. So it's really, really fun and I love it. And every trauma patient that comes in, every critical care activation that comes in, is different. There are been, there have been times that I've walked in and maybe they're awake but aren't really responding and so just kind of hang back and kind of assess okay, is there a family here or their siblings here? But I do feel the freedom of being able to go into the room and make that assessment myself and assess okay.
Speaker 1:do I need to be at the head of the bed? Do I not need to be at the head bed without worrying if staff is going to kick me out or not? I mean. I recall one patient a long time ago. She came in awakened alert, was really anxious, and so it was responding to my support and then all of a sudden started to decompensate really quickly. And so.
Speaker 1:I'm able to read the room and they're pulling stuff to instepate her, and at that point I don't need to be in the room and so I can step out and not have anyone kick me out. So I think as just as important as to like assess the patient and see how they benefit from support, also being able to read the room and assess okay staff what are they saying to each other? What are we getting ready to do next? How can I provide support, or when should I start to bow out?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I am very different from you in that I am more comfortable with the inpatient unit and the building rapport over long periods of time. That is where I feel successful and when I was in the hospital setting and I was thrown into the ER if there was a trauma that came in, I felt super anxious and uncomfortable being at the head of the bed because that was like not my jam. So I know there are specialists listening who have similar instances where maybe they're called down to the ER and it's not their home base or there's a brand new child like specialist working in the ER. That's like I like it here, but trauma bays do freak me out. So is there anything like tips or anything that you would share as somebody who's been doing that for a long time?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so, and like I said, obviously, if you're not going to be helpful in the room, right, don't be in the way. And so tips that I would recommend is and I know that I can do this for my staff, but if you are able to find an ER staff member in the room, that could be a good point person for you Like.
Speaker 1:I know our pharmacist is going to be in the room and they're a good point person for me, or there's going to be a nurse that's documenting, so there's a CNA at a computer and so I can go to that nurse and ask, kind of get some more information. You can even ask where do you want me? Yeah, and it's so. And at that point if you're not comfortable I think especially in the ER staff does not really well respond well to like this fake confidence. And so if you're not comfortable and are kind of coming off as some sort of like I don't know the word like ego or just having this, like being overly confident, that may might not receive that well. And so it's okay to ask questions and ask I'm here, I'm with Child Life, I don't normally do this and I think they appreciate that, and so and even I still do this if I'm covering up on the floor and I am not familiar with the procedure or diagnosis, I think staff really appreciate when you are honest and like I don't know about this, you tell me, you educate me, and so I think. I think that try not to be overly confident. Or in these situations, oftentimes hopefully social work and chaplains are responding, as well as per the psychosocial team, and so that's another resource that you can use of kind of talking with them and asking them for support. Yeah, so those are kind of things to just see if you can find good resource people to go to.
Speaker 1:And then, and honestly, I wonder if you are new or wanting more practice. We do have a lot of newer Charlie specialist in my department who want to come down and shout on so they'll say, hey, next time you get a trauma page, remind letting me come with you so I can shadow you a little bit more, and so I giving them opportunities for that and then, if you don't have anyone maybe to like shadow, or one time you could maybe practice quote unquote with some of those critical patients who may be less sick. And so again, we have a wide variety of patients who come in and so sometimes we'll page out a trauma activation for a kid who's awake and sitting up in bed no injuries, but it's just because of a mechanism, they are required to respond or they're required to be in activation and so being able to just practice ignoring it, or maybe the kid isn't critical, and so it might be easier for you to kind of practice, those skills and providing support in a less chaotic situation, if that makes sense. Yeah, it's easier. That's easier for me to answer for someone who's coming to my hospital. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm I know every hospital is different.
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 3:I think in general, being able to develop a confidence of where I'm confident and that I don't know of something, and so building that staff rapport because then you have more people in the room that trust you and, like you said, having that nurse hold that tourniquet up and not overstepping you and now being a second or a third voice for that patient. They know what your worth is in that room as the voice for that patient and they're not going to overstep that because they trust you. That's great. So what are? What's a unique aspect of working in the emergency department and what has been your biggest moment of growth during your time on this unit?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would say the need to be able to build to rapport with a patient and family quickly has been very, very unique and so Oftentimes and this is where it's kind of different with inpatient I remember I would go in and just introduce services one time and then I'd come back later and I would just think else. And so In the ER you go into room. I may or may not know the age, I may or may not know the procedure, I may or may not know their medical history, if they've been here or not, but I'm going into room and I've got to build report quickly so this kid can Trust me and engage with me and the family as well. So that is something that I find that is really unique. And then also being able to read and assess the situation in their room Really quickly as well, yeah, and so you know Part of that being able to build report quickly we have.
Speaker 1:I go into rooms sometimes in a patient. They might be really calm and I'll be easy and I can just introduce myself and do my prep as normal. But there are times in the room and maybe the kids already upset and so how do I calm the kid down enough to engage with me enough to do my job, to provide preparation and support, and so. But also, why are they upset? Are they upset because they know we're about to do this procedure? Are they upset because they were associated friends birthday party right now and so being able to build our poor, help, meet them at whatever emotional state that they are, bring him down to my level, things like that.
Speaker 1:So I do find that to be a unique thing, because oftentimes I can be in a room from five minutes or less and that's send of my intervention within, and so I need to be able to build, report my preparation, to support and Hopefully leave them in a better state than I found them. Yeah, and might be the first, the last one I ever see them, just depending on the pace of the year, that day and then the biggest moment of growth for me, I think it's been kind of like a more like a long Lesson that I've been learning, and part of that is, I think it's. I think this is applicable for any hospital, but especially being in a teaching hospital, I've had to really come to terms and and I know that you've probably talked about this with other Guests the advocating and the education for staff will never end, and so, whereas I used to be, earlier on in my career, I, you know, was Mad at staff that you know and mad at my residents, like why aren't we doing a comfort hold? Like.
Speaker 1:Why aren't we doing x, y, z you? We know we could be doing this so much better. Her patients be Come for. Post-training is so helpful. The distraction is so helpful if you just give a second for medication to work means like that. Yeah. But realizing a lot of times, if staff is doing something Like that, they probably don't know, and so our residents, they, they've been educated in medication and so they aren't really. And a lot of times they have experience with adult facilities and so yeah they don't know.
Speaker 1:They don't know how pediatrics work, and so they don't know what family centered care is. They don't know what our role was, and so, yeah, they might see me In another room providing support and distraction and think oh my gosh, her job is so cool, she gets to play all day.
Speaker 1:Yeah whereas they don't see.
Speaker 1:They don't see me but behind closed doors, providing preparation, meeting patients in those escalated states, meeting with families of a Patient who's just died, so they don't see the extent of the work that we do.
Speaker 1:They only see the fact because when they call me they want procedure support and at that point I am providing a lot of distraction, things like that, and so, whereas I think I used to have Frustration, resentment, I don't know, realize, okay, I can't expect them to know if I don't teach them, because nobody else to teach them about our whole, because nobody knows our job as well as we do, and so changing my mindset of coming, coming to a place, okay, and Wanting to support my medical team as much as I'm wanting to support our patients, and so that takes a lot more effort out of me to have to go up and talk with them either before or after procedure and advocate for different things, because we know that is what's best for pediatric patients, and so and there is a kind of fine line of like, I'm not a medical provider and so for me giving you recommendations can be A little tricky and so.
Speaker 1:But that's where building rapport with staff is really important, and so thankfully, I do have good rapport with my attending physicians and thankfully they're the they're the bosses over my resident physicians and so even after I've, after I talk with their resident and I don't feel like they're getting it, I will ask them to their attending and say, hey, can we talk about this?
Speaker 1:and they are so receptive to me and so appreciative and they Respect me and I really appreciate that. Along with our nurses and our techs, I do feel like, overall, we have a culture, uh, where our ER really does value our role and the work that we do.
Speaker 3:That's awesome. I think too. I don't know if you have experienced this, but when I was working on the inpatient unit for six and a half years, the longer that I was there, the more the nurses that had been around for a while and would start orienting the new staff. When I would come up, they'd be like oh, this is Jessica, she's the child I specialist, she does this, this, this and this. And it was like super Special to hear them say it. Right, it wasn't just Jessica's your girl for toys, like. It was. Like they said all the things like if you need somebody to prep, or if you need support, or like, and I was like, oh my gosh, this is great. Not that the advocacy or that education ever ends, but hearing another Nurse say that to a new nurse, that new nurse is going to go, oh, that sounds important.
Speaker 1:I need to remember that Versus me, being the first person to introduce myself, yes exactly now, on the flip side, I have some staff members who they'll be training and they're like this is Kelsey, she brings toys, but and then like as, like a, as a joke, right, like I'm like you know that, I know that you don't just do that. I'm like, yeah, but it's still really annoying that you're saying that. So let's not sit that in people's head. Yes, but yes, it is so good to hear people Like introducing our services in a way of like that is so mindful and respectful, and Like I'm honored to be what you are saying, but I am yes, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it does. I mean, that does take time, yes, and it's easy to get frustrated, especially as a new specialist and it's easy to get discouraged. But again, I've been doing this for nine years and I feel like I finally like a year to go peaked. I feel like I finally like Made it, but it took that long to get there.
Speaker 3:Yeah, All right, let's move into the last three closing questions that I ask everyone. So the first one is if someone's listening today and they are really resonating with what you're saying about working in the emergency department, what's one tangible action step they can take to get on the right path to be successful on this unit?
Speaker 1:So one thing that I would really recommend and this is something that I've told students, new hires is the importance of building a report with staff, and the best way to do that is by being on the unit, being present, rounding with them. I there was one hospital that I worked at and I was an added position, and so with my added position, we were providing consistent coverage daily, but for that there was only one person and so staff was not likely to call. We weren't present consistently. There wasn't any excursion that we're going to be there, and so being present on the unit and reminding them, hey, I'm here, I can help.
Speaker 1:Now there is a fine line of you don't want to be talking with them, having a casual conversation and delaying their work, things like that, so being able to read those cues, but the biggest thing I can recommend is being on the unit, building a board and that way, the more that they know you, the better they know you, and the more they see you in a patient room and doing the work, the more that they can trust you. With things I've had and kind of going on, I'm going to go on a little rabbit trail. Yeah, I still receive feedback from other specialists who come down to the ER and if they're helping cover things like that, they have staff or child specialists colleagues who will tell me yeah, I assess that they that the child would benefit from watching the procedure, but staff really want to meet a block review and so it's kind of awkward. And that is a common conversation they do have with child specialists who don't go over the ER as much.
Speaker 1:Whereas and so I know these staff members and they don't do that to me and so, and they know me and they trust me and they can trust my assessment and so even small things like that, I'm having experienced child specialists who's covering the ER, and staff are still going to respond differently to her than they're going to respond to me because they know me and they trust me, which is difficult but also kind of like rewarding that they do. They do know me, and they do trust me. So, it's.
Speaker 1:It's kind of a a weird balance of that.
Speaker 3:It is and I totally hear you with that of it. It honestly is that you've built that rapport and taken the time, and now they do trust your assessment, even though your colleagues can make that same assessment, you know which I know it's hard for them, but I'm like that means a lot yeah. The next question is I do have a lot of students that follow along and listen to this podcast, so what is one thing in general that you'd say to them as a tip from moving through this profession?
Speaker 1:One thing I would recommend is try to find a mentor, whether that is in as a student having a supervisor, or finding a child specialist or a colleague, things like that that will. I think that will really help. I again I, like I mentioned before, I am very self-reflective, and so being able to have someone as like a sounding board that you either say, hey, like I hear you validating you, or hey, here's what we can do, different things like that. Another side thing that I would recommend and this is something that I remember learning before even my fellowship I read a book called Love Does by Bob Goff. He is a Christian author, but it's a fascinating book and it just kind of each chapter is a different story in his life that he shared, and he is a successful lawyer and now he's an ambassador for another country and has an office at one of the Disney sites.
Speaker 1:I don't know, it's insane, but what I learned from him is that you know Bob Goff, like he is a lawyer, yes, but that's not who he identifies as, and so he doesn't write all of his work and wait into that, and so for me, I'm like I'm not Bob Goff. I do not have any of these experience. I don't have any of these cool connections as Bob Goff, but what I do know is that I am a child specialist, but it does not define me, it's not my identity, and a good day and a good intervention does not make me a good child specialist and a bad day or a bad intervention does not make me a bad child specialist. And so, helping to keep that in perspective, because we know that there are some days that are just so good and we feel so good, but then there are some days that we just feel so defeated, and so, remembering you know as much as like I am proud to do what I do I don't need to be defined by whatever happens in that day.
Speaker 3:I loved that book and I am such a bad person of like remembering exactly what was in the book, but hearing you talk about it makes me be like, should I read that again? I think I put that in my donate box. I'm going to like go look and make sure I pull it out.
Speaker 1:And you should. I've read it multiple times. I've read it with my roommates before, like a chapter before bed. It's one of those books that I just like love reading over and over again because it's just like wow how cool.
Speaker 3:For sure, he writes very beautifully too and like even if you go on his Instagram page, if you're looking for like an inspiring quote, I guarantee you within the first like three, you're going to find one that you resonate with Absolutely, yeah, absolutely. The last question I have is if child life is a wildlife, what's the wildest part of your experience so far?
Speaker 1:So, I was trying to think of the best way to answer this. I have a couple of different avenues I was going First thing was just totally a joke, but not really. But my intern application experience that was pretty wild and that was 10 years ago and so that was LOL. It is difficult but I nice thing. I was like I have seen a lot of wild trauma patients, Seen a lot of different types of stuff, but the one thing that still sticks out the most is not a trauma patient, it is a behavioral health patient that I had spent some time working with over multiple admissions, multiple longer ER admissions in very complex social situation. But long story short, I ended up having to prepare and support him from being arrested by the police Wow.
Speaker 1:Which number one was heartbreaking. But also I don't work with police, I work with my medical team, and so that was kind of a unique situation for me, where that's not something that we do. But, at the same time, I'm providing my transferable skills of providing preparation and support, setting expectations, things like that, and this patient who could have done very poorly who could have?
Speaker 1:responded very poorly to the police, did well. We got him moved into the police car without incident, and so that I would say is probably my wildest thing and just thinking about something that's totally not hospital related, but still being able to use those transferable skills.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's great. Thank you so much, Kelsey, for being on the Child Life, Wild Life podcast. I really, really appreciate all the wisdom and valuable information that you brought to us.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you so much for having me. I hope that's helpful yeah.