Navicent is ready! What you need to know.

Child Life

Beverly Knight Olson Children’s Hospital Navicent Health provides a team of Certified Child Life Specialists who work with patients and families to help reduce the stress and anxiety that can be associated with hospitalization. The Child Life team works to meet the developmental, psychosocial, and emotional needs of patients and their families by providing the following services:

Facilitating medical play opportunities to help children better understand their hospital experience.
Preparing patients and their families for upcoming procedures, surgeries, and hospitalizations.
Implementing distraction techniques for patients during stressful procedures.
Providing emotional support to siblings, caregivers, and families affected by a patient’s diagnosis, treatment, or hospitalization.
Providing developmentally appropriate activities, toys, and games to promote normal growth and coping.
Coordinating support groups.
Supervising the activity room and providing age-appropriate play activities in a group setting.

Child Life Coverage

The Child Life Department consists of 6 Certified Child Life Specialists that cover the following pediatric units:

If you would like to contact the Child Life Department, please email childlifemacon@atriumhealth.org

Child Life Practicum

Each Spring and Fall semester, the Child Life Department offers a Practicum for Child Life Students in the process of pursuing a degree in Child Life or a related field at a college or university. The Child Life Practicum is a minimum of 100 hours as suggested by the Association of Child Life Professionals. The program is designed to give students clinical experience under the direct supervision of a Certified Child Life Specialist in preparation for applying for Child Life Internships.

*At this time we are only accepting students from affiliated universities including the following: Georgia Southern University, University of Georgia, Auburn University, University of Alabama, University of Missouri, East Carolina University, Louisiana Tech, and Mississippi State University.

For more information or to complete an application, please click here

If you have further questions, please contact Erin Whitlock, CCLS at 478-633-6384 or email erin.whitlock@atriumhealth.org.

Child Life Internship

Each Spring and Fall semester, the Child Life Department offers an Internship for Child Life Students in the process of pursuing a degree in Child Life or a related field at a college or university. We provide a minimum of 600 hours which satisfies the Association of Child Life Professionals’ requirement of 600 hours. This internship provides students with hands-on experience and clinical training under the direct supervision of a Certified Child Life Specialist in preparation to take the Child Life Certification Exam and to apply for professional Child Life positions. For more information on eligibility and application requirements, please click here.

If you have any further questions, please contact:

Abby Wilder, CCLS at 478-633-1276 or abby.wilder@atriumhealth.org
Amanda Dougherty, CCLS at 478-633-6539 or amanda.dougherty@atriumhealth.org

Music Therapy Practicum

We provide clinical hours for Music Therapy students from Georgia College and State University during the Spring and Fall semesters. For more information on how to apply please click here

For any further questions please contact:

Amanda Dougherty, CCLS at 478-633-6539 or Amanda.Dougherty@atriumhealth.org

Give Back

We are so grateful to everyone who wishes to give back to Beverly Knight Olson Children’s Hospital. Please see below for several ways to become involved.

Material Donations: With the help of our generous community, we strive to make sure that each patient can still be a child while in the hospital by providing them with opportunities for play and normalization. If you are interested in helping by donating material items, please click here for a copy of our current Donation Wish List. You may also access our online Amazon wish list to have your gift mailed directly to the Children’s Hospital here. For the safety and consideration of our patients and families, we are unable to accept the following items: used/pre-owned items, religious items, toy weapons, latex balloons, and homemade food.

Donations may be dropped off at any time (no appointment required) at the registration desk in the lobby of the Children’s Hospital located at 700 Spring Street Macon, GA 31201. For more information, please contact the Child Life Department at 478-633-7219 or email childlifemacon@atriumhealth.org

Service Projects: If you or your organization is looking for a hands-on way to support our patients, please click here for a list of available service project opportunities.

Monetary Donations: In addition to our wish list items, we also rely on monetary donations to help make each patient experience as pleasant as possible. Philanthropic dollars allow the Beverly Knight Olson Children’s Hospital, Navicent Health to purchase the “extras” such as therapy items for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, specialized medical equipment for our various pediatric units, pediatric wheelchairs, child life iPads for used for distraction, and much more. Your donation is tax-deductible and greatly appreciated.

For monetary donations, please contact Navicent Health Foundation at 478-633-GIVE.

Visiting Groups

**Due to COVID-19, Visiting Group Activities have been suspended until further notice. Please click here for a list of alternative and safe ways to support our patients.

Throughout the year, we host community groups and organizations in our General Pediatrics Activity Room in order to provide patients and families with opportunities for normalization. Interested groups are asked to bring an activity, typically a craft or game, and facilitate it with the patients in a group setting. This allows the kids a chance to get out of their rooms, interact with others, and have fun while undergoing treatment. For more information, please click here for a copy of our Visiting Group Activity Guidelines.

If you have any questions or would like to schedule an activity, please contact the Child Life Department at 478-633-7219 or email childlifemacon@atriumhealth.org.

Visiting Group & Special Event Form

Name of Group:*
Date of Visit:*
MM slash DD slash YYYY
Time of Visit:

HH :

MM

AM/PM
Contact Person:*
Phone Number:*
Email Address:*
Street Address:*
Street Address Address Line 2 City State ZIP Code
Group Leader for Visit(if different from contact person)
Number of Participants in Group(max number is 7)*
Please enter a number from 1 to 7.
Are all Participants 12 years of age or older?*
- Yes
- No
Those between 12-17 must be accompanied by an adult.
Is this your first time conducting an activity at the Children's Hospital?*
- Yes
- No
Brief Description of Craft/Game or Event:
If you are bringing any items for the patients, please list them:*
List any items you need to facilitate your visit (cart, wagon, outlets, etc.)*
Agreement
As a representative of the above named organization, I have read the Visiting Group/Special Event Guidelines for the Beverly Knight Olson Children’s Hospital, Navicent Health and affirm my group’s willingness to adhere to the Guidelines. I understand that I am not to discuss or disclose any information about any patient outside the hospital or take any photographs or videos during the visit without obtaining written consent by the Certified Child Life Specialist or Public Relations Department. I understand that if, during our visit, my group fails to follow these Guidelines, my group may be asked to leave the Children’s Hospital and any future visits may be prohibited.
Type your name as signature to indicate your agreement:
Date*
MM slash DD slash YYYY
Name*
First Last
CAPTCHA

Special Events and Programs

Holly Jolly Shoppe

The Holly Jolly Shoppe is a holiday donation program benefiting Atrium Health Navicent Beverly Knight Olson Children’s Hospital. This event is sponsored by the Navicent Health Foundation and is made possible by generous donations from the local community. Please click here for more information and a list of popular items. You can also access our online Amazon Wish List here to view examples of popular items or to have a gift mailed directly to the hospital. If you have any questions, please contact the Child Life Department at childlifemacon@atriumhealth.org or 478-633-7219.

Trick or Treat Parade

Each October, we host a Trick or Treat Parade for patients who must spend Halloween in the hospital. This is an opportunity for patients and families that may have missed out on festivals, trick or treating, school parties, or other fall activities due to hospitalization to still participate while undergoing treatment. If you are interested in donating new costumes or store bought individually wrapped candy or prizes to the parade, please contact the Child Life Department at childlifemacon@atriumhealth.org or 478-633-7219.

Character, Celebrity, and Professional Sports Team Visits

If you or your organization is interested in visiting the patients at Beverly Knight Olson Children’s Hospital, please contact the Child Life Department at 478-633-7219 or email childlifemacon@atriumhealth.org

Pet Therapy

Our Pet Therapy Program consists of volunteers that bring their Certified Therapy dogs to visit the hospital and interact with the patients and families. This is a wonderful opportunity for those undergoing hospitalization to feel the love and comfort that a Certified Therapy dog can provide. For more information regarding this program or to learn how to become a Pet Therapy volunteer, please contact the Child Life Department at childlifemacon@atriumhealth.org or 478-633-7219.

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