Hometown Helpers: Child Life Specialist helps care for children at hospital

#EastIdahoNews

IDAHO FALLS — EastIdahoNews.com is introducing you to Hometown Helpers in our community. We want to spotlight a firefighter, police officer, city worker or others who quietly keep our cities and counties running.

This week, we are featuring Diana Moll, a child life specialist at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center. She’s been working at EIRMC for eight years.

“As a child life specialist, I help explain procedures and surgeries to kids in ways that they can understand things that they might hear, see, or smell so they can get used to what’s going to happen,” said Moll.

She works with babies all the way up to teenagers and provides distraction tools for kids like an iPad or toys so they can stay focused on something else other than a procedure that’s happening.

“Oftentimes, we could use a term as, ‘Oh, we are going to use an IV on you.’ So what does that really mean? ‘Okay, we are going to get a blue rubber band which is called a tourniquet’ and ‘See! Look! Can you feel it?’ Having them interact with the medical equipment and kind of explore that on their own,” Moll said.

She also helps siblings and parents understand what’s happening if they have concerns.

Moll said she loves working with children.

“Kids are the best. I think we have so much to learn from them. Their resilience and their happiness about life. Just their ability to cope with hard experiences,” she said.

Her job is one of a kind at EIRMC. She is the only child life specialist.

“As a child life specialist, they are commonly found in children hospitals so I think that makes EIRMC unique that it’s an adult hospital but there are children floors and children come to see us from all different areas,” she said. “I think often times, I am seen as the play person which is absolutely true. That’s how kids learn is through play. But there are also different components working with a team of doctors, nurses and therapists, to provide that very family centered care that we strive for here at EIRMC.”

Her job can be difficult at times.

“When I help with bereavement—so doing hand holds, handprints of children or talking to siblings about what might have happened in a traumatic experience when that child passes, that can be the hardest but maybe the most rewarding part of my job,” said Moll. “I’m part of an experience where it’s so intimate that a normal, typical person would not be involved with but this family is allowing me to help them during this difficult time.”

Moll cares for what she does and has actually been recognized for her hard work. She is EIRMC’s Frist Humanitarian Awards recipient, which recognizes an employee for their humanitarian spirit and philanthropic work. She said she feels very honored.

Moll also loves to help children outside of her job by volunteering her time to nonprofit organizations like Camp Magical Moments, a week long camp packed with fun activities for kids with cancer. She has been a volunteer for six years.

Moll shows every day that she’s a Hometown Helper by ensuring that children who come into the hospital have the best experience possible.

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