Student voices

Optimism and Adaptation in the Face of COVID-19

As a child life student, I eagerly anticipated my child life internships throughout my academic career. I was excited to begin applying my theoretical knowledge and begin gaining hands-on experience in the field. Child life specialists are developmental experts who work to help children and their families cope with the stressors of hospitalization. They work to normalize the healthcare environment, educate and prepare children for medical interventions, and advocate for children and families so that they continue to reach all of their developmental milestones.

As I spent the summer scrolling through social media and watching as healthcare adapted to fit the needs of the pandemic, I wondered what my internship would look like. I envisioned experiences of hospital playrooms full of laughter, facilitating hands-on interventions to siblings to help them cope, and providing comfort and healing through the emotions on our face. But suddenly, the playroom doors were closed and the laughter was dispersed throughout the unit hallways, siblings were sent home, our faces were covered by masks and the experiences I once imagined were no longer feasible. Despite the “frozen in time” feeling we were all living in, September eventually rolled around and I was able to begin my first child life internship.

I vividly remember the daunting feeling of walking into a healthcare setting in the middle of a global pandemic. It allowed me to reflect on all the children terrified of going to the hospital every day. This anxious feeling of walking into a “scary place” was a humbling reminder of what the children and families experience pre and post-pandemic. As a future child life specialist, I value the skills of being adaptable, empathetic, and creative. Just like I would use my child life skills to help support an anxious child during a difficult procedure, I chose to apply these same tools to assist in my coping throughout my internships at both Massachusetts General Hospital for Children and Boston Children’s Hospital.

As child life specialists, being able to adapt and remain flexible is critical to our success. In healthcare, things change rapidly. My idea of welcoming groups of patients into playrooms for therapeutic interventions suddenly shifted to understanding how to “bring the playroom to them,” allowing me to normalize their hospitalization all from the comfort of their own bed.

Throughout this past year, I have also learned the importance of being empathetic. To many of us, the days of being stuck at home were filled with so much uncertainty and loss of control. But to many families, this is oddly familiar. When a child is diagnosed with a new illness there is uncertainty, anxiety, fear, and a complete loss of control. I have learned how to take on the perspective of patients and families and will continue to do so in my future practice. Finally, I have expanded my creativity! I have drawn silly faces on my masks and helped children take virtual field trips to aquariums from inside their hospital rooms. Child life specialists everywhere have learned to use their creativity to find the sunshine in these cloudy days!

One day, when I’m sitting in a playroom full of laughter, I will think back on this year and all of the additional skills that I otherwise wouldn’t have gained. I am certain that these skills will allow me to improve the lives of children and families. More than that, I am inspired by the resilience I see in the patients and their families; it is their strength, pre-, during, and post-pandemic that fuels me to inspire a world of good. Until then, I’m going to take a deep breath, blow some more bubbles, and watch them fly high in the sky taking with them the impact of this year!