Child Life Program Specialist - Days - Per Diem
Posted Sep 28, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026
Likely interview questions for this role
Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.
About your past
Tell me about a time you supported a family through a child's death or a very bad diagnosis. What did you do, and what did you leave to others?
What they are checking: Whether they can stay present in grief work while knowing the limits of their role and who else belongs in the room.
Tell me about a time a parent didn't want you to tell their child what was going on. How did you handle it?
What they are checking: Whether they can respect a parent's authority while still gently advocating for honest, age-right information for the child.
Describe how you work with nurses and physicians who see child life as nice to have rather than part of care.
What they are checking: Whether they can earn credibility with the care team by showing results instead of getting defensive about their role.
How do you take care of yourself after a hard week of loss on the pediatric units?
What they are checking: Whether they have real habits for handling grief so they can keep doing this work for years without burning out.
What would you do
As a per diem specialist you'd float between peds, PICU, NICU, the ED and surgery. How does your approach change from a NICU family to a teenager in the ED?
What they are checking: Whether they can shift gears quickly across settings where the patient, the family and the pace are completely different.
A child in the ED is panicking and fighting an IV start, and the nurse wants to just hold them down and get it done. What do you do?
What they are checking: Whether they can offer coping help in seconds without slowing urgent care or turning the moment into a standoff with staff.
You're working a 7 to 3 shift and three units page you at once. How do you decide where to go first?
What they are checking: Whether they triage by procedure timing and child distress rather than by who called first or who called loudest.
About the work
Walk me through how you would prepare a six-year-old for a scheduled surgery, starting from the moment you meet them in pre-op.
What they are checking: Whether they adjust language, tools and timing to a child's developmental stage instead of running one script for every age.
How do you use medical play, and how do you decide which real equipment a child should see and touch beforehand?
What they are checking: Whether they understand that preparation reduces fear only when it is accurate, concrete and matched to what the child will actually feel.
How do you build a short treatment or coping plan for a child who is going to be admitted for a long stay?
What they are checking: Whether they think about normal development, school, play and routine over weeks, not just getting through the next procedure.
How do you keep the playroom and therapeutic spaces safe and clean for kids who may be immunocompromised?
What they are checking: Whether they connect toy cleaning and space setup to infection control, which is part of the job and not an afterthought.
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Practice this out loudThe full job description
As published by Endeavor Health.