Therapeutic Clown

Req ID: 191876 
Department/Program: Child Life Centrewide, Children's Surgical & Critical Care 
Location: Halifax   
Type of Employment: Temporary Hourly PT long-assignment (80% FTE) until   x 1 position(s)
 Start Date: ASAP
Union Status: Non-union, Management/Non Union Bargaining Unit
Compensation: $28.5959 - $35.7448 /hour
Closing Date: November 19, 2024 (Applications are accepted until 23:59 Atlantic Time)

IWK Health is a respected academic health sciences centre located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, providing tertiary and primary care for two million children, youth, adults and families each year across the Atlantic region. We have a team of approximately 4000 employees, physicians, volunteers and learners at sites across Nova Scotia. People build careers with IWK Health with our focus on training and mentorship opportunities. We recognize each other’s talent and celebrate our successes. We collaborate in modern facilities or virtually from home, align our work to our values, and enjoy access to enhanced benefits and wellness programs. We are proud to support our patients, families and communities and are grateful for the generous donor support we receive.

Promoting an anti-racist environment, and calling out discrimination as we work and provide care, is important to us. We are located in Mi’kma’ki, the unceded and ancestral territory of the Mi’kmaq people. Working in Mi’kma’ki and providing care to those across Atlantic Canada is a shared privilege with the original inhabitants who have lived here for many thousands of years prior to colonization. There are 13 First Nation communities across Nova Scotia, and more than 50 historic African Nova Scotian communities who also have a long, deep, and complex history dating back over 400 years. We have the highest percentage of people with disabilities in the country. Nova Scotia has the highest proportions of transgender and non-binary people than any other province or territory in the country. We are active in our work to eliminate discrimination, but have more work to do to build that trust, acknowledge our biases and reduce the barriers our diverse communities face. We want IWK Health to be a safe and supportive space of equity and belonging in the care we provide and the employment we offer. We welcome all interested persons who self-identify as Indigenous, Black/African Nova Scotians, Persons of Colour, Immigrants/Newcomers, Persons with Disabilities, 2SLGBTQIA+ to apply to support our goal for our workforce to be representative of the patients, families, and communities that we care for at all job levels.

Reporting to the Manager of Inpatient Surgical Care and Child Life Services with professional accountability to the Professional Practice Leader/Coordinator for Child Life Services, this position serves pediatric patient populations throughout all areas of the health center, including both inpatient and ambulatory care.  The majority of the work is within the main IWK site, with some services provided to offsite locations as required.  Working within a multidisciplinary healthcare team, the Therapeutic Clown assists patients to cope with the stress associated with illness and/or injury and/or stress of healthcare experiences.  This is accomplished through goal-directed therapeutic interventions that utilize the artistic tools of clowning.  This may include but is not limited to the following responsibilities;

•    Assists in keeping children stimulated and engaged in positive, playful interactions during their stay in hospital.
•    Initiates and maintains therapeutic relationships with patients and their families.  Involves the extended family in play and healing, particularly siblings who may feel left out with the focus on the hospitalized child.
•    Empowers children and give them a sense of control by allowing them to direct the play and make choices.
•    Provides goal directed play and opportunities for movement and motivation when appropriate.
•    Provides group or one-on-one therapeutic play in hallways, playrooms, elevators and patients’ rooms. 
 

Varying Hours Monday-Friday

•    Bachelor’s degree in a psychosocial/healthcare field (can be but is not limited to Social Work, Psychology, Child and Youth Studies, Early Childhood Education, Recreation Therapy, Child Life, etc.)
•    Experience in clowning and a well-developed clown character required.
•    Well-developed talent in one or more areas of magic, music, mime required.
•    Appropriate certification/registration/designation required for work as a healthcare professional as required. 
•    Previous experience in health care preferred.
•    Non-violent crisis intervention training an asset.
•    Knowledge of child/youth development.
•    Ability to conduct in-the-moment assessments of a patient and/or sibling’s social, emotional, cognitive abilities and needs and provide therapeutic play that assists patients and/or sibling to cope with their hospital experience.
•    Ability to collaborate and communicate with a multi-disciplinary healthcare team.
•    Knowledge of potential stresses of healthcare experiences, illness, injury (and potential external factors that may contribute to this stress) on patients and families.
•    Ability to provide therapeutic clown experiences to mitigate the aforementioned stresses.
•    Ability to multi-task and to prioritize patient interactions and other workload demands.
•    Skills in humour, creative and therapeutic play, music, movement, magic, and circus arts, and the ability to direct these skills to maximize therapeutic benefit for patients and families.
•    Knowledge and skill in the use of online and social media platforms.
•    Knowledge in the history and theory of clown (clown types, purpose, philosophy) and of the hospital clown/therapeutic clown movement.
•    Ability to improvise and quickly adapt to changing and multiple patient needs.
•    Competency in other languages an asset, French preferred.

Thank you for your interest in IWK Health.

Please note that we only contact applicants selected for interview/testing. If we invite you to participate in an assessment process (such as an interview or testing) you have the right to request accommodation. Please discuss your needs when invited to the assessment process.

This is a Management/Non Union  bargaining  unit position. Preference is given to bargaining unit employees for unionized positions. Successful applicants changing unions, bargaining units or employment status, are advised to seek clarification regarding their seniority, benefits, and vacation entitlement and/or usage, prior to accepting the position.

An  offer of employment is conditional upon the completion and satisfactory results of all applicable background checks and confirmation of credentials.

If you are an employee of IWK Health, please apply through the internal careers page to ensure you are flagged as an internal applicant.