Job Spotlight with Mailey Wright, child life specialist

Mailey Wright acknowledges she had never heard of a child life specialist before heading to Auburn University in 2008 to earn her college degree.

It was a professor offering extra points toward a final exam if she and others would attend a seminar at Children’s Health Care of Atlanta that first opened her eyes to the possibility of working with children in such a profession.

“After an hour of being at the seminar and listening to their stories and seeing video clips and seeing how they truly impacted the children at the hospital, I just knew that was what I wanted to do,” said Wright, 25, a Columbus native. “So I came back home and decided on my major.”

That led to the Glenwood School graduate pursuing a bachelor’s degree in human development and family studies, with a child life concentration. Her extracurricular activities related to her studies were extensive.

“With child life, you’re required to do so many hours with sick children and with well children. So I did a ton of volunteering at Auburn,” she said.

That included Project Uplift and mentoring two young boys through the Big Brothers Big Sisters program; spending time at the Boys & Girls Club; volunteering at church nurseries and pre-schools; and working at the Auburn Early Learning Center.

“And then we were required to do at least 120 hours in the hospital with hospitalized children,” she said. “So I applied for a practicum program held at Columbus Regional through Meg Johnson, who was the child life specialist at the time.”

Finally, in 2008, she graduated from Auburn, then headed for an internship at a hospital in Savannah, Ga., before landing a job with The Children’s Hospital at Midtown Medical Center, which is part of Columbus Regional.

That was in March 2013 and Wright hasn’t looked back, throwing herself into her job of supporting, nurturing and assisting those from infancy to 19 years of age as they go through illnesses, surgeries and chemotherapy at the hospital. She’s the only child life specialist on staff.

She also now heads a Family Advisory Council that meets each month to discuss and find ways of improving the overall hospital experience for young patients and their family members.

The Ledger-Enquirer visited recently with Wright to discuss her job, its challenges, the emotional moments she faces, and the joy she derives from helping others. This interview has been edited a bit for length and clarity.

It looks like you’re throwing a party in this playroom?

One thing that we do for our patients is parties for big life events. So we do parties for birthdays if they’re in the hospital during their birthday. Or if they have an end of chemotherapy coming up, we have a big party and a bell they ring that has significance ... It’s a big surprise. We invite all of their friends and family and the staff, and we have a big card for them. We usually have cake or pizza or something fun like that.

So the heavy volunteerism during college was designed to make certain you truly like being around and working with children?

Yeah. I’ve always loved kids. I grew up baby-sitting friends’ kids.

I actually used to hate coming to the hospital. I never liked the smell. I never liked anything about a hospital. Now I love being at the hospital. It’s funny how as you grow, things change.

Then I started my practicum here in the spring of 2012 with Meg and I accrued 120 hours over the semester and continued to volunteer throughout the summer. I actually got to meet a lot of our chronic kids that we still get to see today back when I was a student here. So I had already started that rapport and building those relationships that I have with these kids.

What’s your day-to-day life like on the job?

Child life is crazy. No day is the same. Usually, when I get here, I assess the patients, seeing who I need to see first based on a procedure (they’re having) that morning, who I have not met before, and who is left (at the hospital) if their parents had to leave for work.

We do therapeutic activities, which play is an outlet for a child. That’s how they express themselves. It helps to release some of that stress and anxiety from being in the hospital, especially if you’ve never been in the hospital before. There’s a lot going on, a lot of different sounds, a lot of people. You meet so many people throughout the day and they’re all saying different stuff.

One of my main things I do with these children is go in and introduce myself to them as kind of like the teacher of the hospital. That’s so these boys and girls who have never been to the hospital before, I can explain things to them. Like if they’re about to get an IV, I actually have a medical doll and a book and I use the same medical equipment that (nurses) do to put the IV in the child. We do it together on the doll.

Some kids like to just watch and some kids like to get hands-on and help. They see that it’s just the catheter that stays in. It’s not the needle that stays in. So it’s letting a child know what’s happening so that it takes much of the fear away from them.

How many children do you see each day?

I see every child that we have on the floor ... probably an average of 10 to 15 kids a day. For our itty bitty babies, I gear more towards support for the family and make sure they understand everything that’s going on with their child. That’s their baby and they need to be in the know about everything.

Sometimes families come in and stuff goes over their head and they don’t understand all of the medical stuff. So I go in there and make sure they understand everything.

Can you answer every question yourself?

I definitely cannot answer every question, but I always say: Let me go ask somebody who can answer that and I’ll come back to you. Or I’ll say: Let me grab your nurse so she can tell you a little bit more about this. I never answer anything that I don’t understand, and I never give them any kind of medical advice or anything like that.

But I do try to make sure they’re comfortable in that environment and have everything they need, and just that extra support.

So you’re reassuring and relaxing patients and parents, and acting as an advocate for them?

Yes. I’m a big advocate for the families and patients’ needs. If the patient is getting an IV in and (health-care providers) want to put the child in a certain position, I may advocate for the child (by saying something like): This position may be better; it’s more comforting for the child.

Sometimes with the children, I’ll go into the exam room and sit on the exam table and they sit in my lap and I give them kind of a bear hug, just something real comfortable. It builds that trusting relationship. And that leaves that one arm that they’re trying to get the IV in free. So it’s making it more comfortable for them and not as stressful.

Can it become emotional for you at times?

One of the more difficult things about child life is I had to learn how to control my emotions, because I’m with these kids all day, every day, and you fall in love with them. They become a part of you.I was told all through school that you’ve got to learn how to leave your work at work when you go home for the night. But that’s easier said than done when I’ve known some of these kids for four years and I’ve seen what they’ve gone through. I’ve seen their progress and their struggles. They’re a part of my heart.

Have you shed tears at times?

I have. I’ve gotten a little teary-eyed with some families before, absolutely. But I always try to keep myself together because if I get really emotional about someone, it’s going to cause them to get very emotional. That’s when it becomes a ‘go home and cry on the pillow’ kind of thing.

What types of illnesses and situations do children you assist face?

We see everything from strep throat, flu, surgery kids, kids getting their tonsils out. We’ve got hematology patients, oncology patients, newborn babies with (respiratory disease). We get a wide range of everything. And I see kids in the pediatric intensive care unit as well.

Do you sit in on procedures and surgeries?

I do. I sit in on all kinds of procedures. During procedures, I’m their means of distraction. So I talk to them all through the procedure and tell the kids what’s going to happen next so they understand, and just give them that positive reinforcement and tell them they’re doing an awesome job, it’s just a little bit longer, we’re almost finished. I offer them positive reinforcement the whole time and become their cheerleader in there. The patient’s eyes are glued to you at such a time?

I try to keep them focused on me so they’re not paying attention to the procedure. I’ll also go back to MRI with patients and talk to them and kind of put my hand on their leg so that they know someone’s there with them, talk to them and remind them to stay still.

The same thing with X-rays and CT (scans). And I’ll go down with them to OR (the operating room). Family members are not allowed to go there with patients. What I do is I’ll gown up, which is actually a really great way to distract them because I have to wear this huge, white gown that looks like a bunny suit. I have my white hat and little slippers on and my mask, so all you can really see is my eyes.

They get so excited when they see me walk out in that because they think it’s so funny looking ... It’s just a giant white suit and one size fits all. So me being as short as I am, it really swallows me, and I look ridiculous in it. That just makes them have a huge smile on their face and get a huge kick out of seeing me like that.

But, also, when it’s time to be wheeled back (for surgery), I’m with them, holding their hand until they are sedated. That way they know someone’s in there with them and explaining to them what everything is in the OR [--] such as the huge lights above their head [--] because the OR can be very intimidating. It’s cold. There’s a lot going on in there.

So having someone comforting that they know, and that they have a trusting relationship with, is a great thing. If they’re not able to get that child back there in a calm way, it can be a struggle to get them sedated. Most kids, when I go back with them, they just lay there. We talk until they get sleepy and I’m holding their hand, and they’re sedated.

Then I always go back out and tell mom and dad that they did great and everything went smoothly. So it’s giving parents that comfort, too, so they’re not sitting there in the waiting area worried how everything went.

What would be a career step for you after becoming a child life specialist?

I could always go back and get my master’s degree in child life. I’m grandfathered in because the Child Life Council, which is the head of all child life specialists, have just now required that specialists get their master’s degree. Those graduating now with child life are going straight into grad school and getting their master’s.

If I were to ever move and have to find another job, I would be competing with all of those students that have their master’s. So I will definitely need to consider getting my master’s in child life.

You’re the only child life specialist here. Who fills in when you’re not on duty or are on vacation?

There’s not anybody on the weekends or after 5:30 each night.

If not for you, nurses would have to do what you do?

Yes, sir. The nurses have picked up on how I talk to a child, because you have to talk to a child in their words, in their language. And that’s not saying, hey, we’re about to stick you with this needle. You have to explain it in a child-friendly, age-appropriate way to where they understand what’s going on ... and that it’s not like waving the needle in their face.

The nurses have been great about picking up on certain words that I use and how I talk to a child during different procedures. But also when I’m not here, the playroom isn’t able to be open because of safety issues and sanitation. Kids can’t be sitting around playing with dirty toys. I clean them the first thing in the morning. If we had another child life specialist, we could maybe spread out our time and be here more often.

What’s the biggest challenge you face on the job?

Definitely those relationships with those kids and staying in my professional role and not crossing any boundaries that the hospital has set and the Child Life Council has set. So it’s not becoming too attached, but still maintaining that relationship with that child that you see so often.

What’s the most rewarding thing about your job?

Oh, every day is rewarding, even if it’s the slightest thing, such as a kid getting so excited when I bring them a pair of new pajamas to wear because he’s tired of wearing the gown. And it’s the huge smile that I bring to their face by bringing them a special prize as reinforcement for any kind of procedure that they’ve had.

We’ve had proms in the playroom; a patient who was going to have to miss her senior prom, so we put on a big prom. And definitely the end-of-chemo parties are so rewarding, just getting everyone together and showing how proud we are for that patient and what they’ve overcome.

What advice would you have for someone considering your career?

Definitely becoming a member of the Child Life Council. You can see a lot of the different articles and the forum (online), and get a bunch of books and other resources without even becoming a member. But you get a lot more if you join. It’s a yearly fee, I think, of $70, and you get student discounts with the books.

That was a huge thing for me because it also tells you all about how to get an internship. I did a 600-hour internship in Savannah, Ga., at Memorial University Medical Center. When I got finished with my internship, Meg called me and said that they had a position open here. So I applied and I got really lucky and got a job right out of school, because (child life jobs) are very hard to come by because it’s a growing career. Not every hospital has child life.

What are the personal qualities that you need? Compassion and a little bit of a child inside yourself?

Yes. You obviously have to love being around kids even when they’re not in their happiest mood. So it’s definitely having patience and compassion for these children. ...

And it’s learning how to be an advocate for somebody, because it’s not always easy to go up to a nurse or a doctor. Some people might be intimidated by that. But you’re the advocate for that child and that family, and you have to have that kind of attitude about it.

Bio

Name: Mailey Wright

Age: 25

Hometown: Columbus

Current residence: Columbus

Education: 2008 graduate of Glenwood School in Smiths Station, Ala.; earned a bachelor of science degree in human development and family studies, with a concentration in child life concentration; certified child life specialist

Previous jobs: Babysitting when she was growing up

Family: Single, with a Boykin Spaniel pooch named Camp

Leisure time: Enjoys going to the lake, spending the day relaxing on a boat, and she’s always up for a trip to the beach, as well as hanging out with family and friendsOf note: She studied abroad in Costa Rica while in high school; her sorority at Auburn University volunteered with Children’s Miracle Network all four years; and she volunteered heavily throughout college, including with the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, the Boys & Girls Club, and with church nurseries, pre-schools and the Auburn Early Learning Center

This story was originally published February 7, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Job Spotlight with Mailey Wright, child life specialist."