Ms. Nora Hager earned her Master of Arts in Human Development and Family Studies, in 1994 at the University of Missouri. She worked as a certified child life specialist (CCLS) at University Hospitals and Clinics (now known as MU Healthcare’s Children’s Hospital) from 1993 to 2001 after completing a clinical internship at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

As a CCLS, she worked to meet the psychosocial needs of children and families primarily on the day of surgery, adolescent, and pediatric intensive care units. She led the effort to establish a pet therapy visitation program for the children’s inpatient units, worked on a multidisciplinary team to design a more child- and family-friendly physical environment, taught and clinically supervised students in the HDFS child life emphasis, and earned the University Hospital and Clinics Staff for Life Achievement Award. She is currently the Child Life Program Director, advising students, teaching courses in the child life curriculum,and overseeing child life interns. She has been nominated four times for the campus Excellence in Advising Award and received the College of Human Environmental Sciences Distinguished Teacher Award in 2010.

Affiliations

Association of Child Life Professionals
Child Life Academic Society (Founders Council)
National Association for the Education of Young Children
National Association of Colleges and Employers

Areas of Expertise

• Clinical interests in cancer and cystic fibrosis
• Clinical interests in death and bereavement
• Clinical care for adolescents
• Research at HDFS