Child Life Specialist- BSN?

[candicehall1118]

Hello everyone!!

I need some advice/opinions/wisdom. I've been a LVN for a little over 5 years. I work at a great hospital in downtown Houston, Tx. I've been spending some time with our Child Life Specialists lately, and their job seems perfect for me!! I've really been thinking about going back for quite some time now, between LVN-RN transition programs, to LVN-BSN transition programs. My question is.......what's the best route for a LVN to become a Child Life Specialist? I know you don't HAVE to be a nurse, you do have to have alot of child life experience so I know being a nurse obviously helps. I just wonder if I should go back for my BSN, or get a Bachelor's in maybe Psych or Child Development. I know years from now I could probably do more in my nursing career with a BSN, but the programs seem so difficult to get into these days! Especially when I only know of 3 LVN-BSN programs near Houston (Prairie View, Houston Baptist, and Texas Women's) So what are your thoughts on going back to further my career.......BSN or not? Thanks for any help!!

[nursel56]

Being a Child Life specialist sounds like an awesome job! We didn't have them back when I worked at Children's Hospital.

My guess is that it's heavy on the type of courses you would need to become a teacher or a psychologist with normal/abnormal growth and development but your best bet now would be to ask the Child Life specialists what their training consisted of and research programs around the country as it is a relatively new major study. It's likely to take some time longer than the Bachelor's, too. Best wishes to you!

[elkpark]

I don't have a lot of experience with Child Life Specialists, but there doesn't seem to be any connection between nursing and CLS that I've seen. AFAIK, they have degrees in child development or from a specialty child life specialist degree program (there are a growing number of those around the country). If you really want to become a CLS, I would pursue the education that specifically leads to that credential/certification (there is national certification), not further nursing education.

Best wishes for your journey!