Volunteering in Maternity and PP-what do I need to know?

Specialties Ob/Gyn

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I am starting a volunteer "job" in a big hospital tommorrow. I will be doing it 3 hours a week. Baically, bc of my schedule I can't commit to a hospital job and I thought this would be a good way to get my foot in the door while I am doing prerequisites. When I actually start nursing school, I hope to get a job as a PCT there, and eventually a nursing job (I hope:D). this is a really great hospital and they have really awesome program for new nurse grads, for wich they give special consideration to people who have work and volunteer exp. in that hospital. So, I really want ot make a good impression.

The volunteer coordinator told me I will be floating btw Maternity and the Mother/Baby. I wanted to do mother/baby partly bc I have an interested in working there and partly bc I felt like there would be more I could do as a volunteer in this unit. As a non-employee, there isn't going to be much I can do for people on a med -surg floor but here I could maybe help new moms with diaper changes, feeding questions, or just giving moral support.

Anways, I was just wondering if anyone has any good advice for me or can tell me what to expect as a volunteer and what I will be allowed to do. My coordinator told me that as the nurses get to know me I can ask them if I can help with certain procedures and to be "aggressive" about asking the nurses for meaninful work to do. I am sort of worried now bc she made it sound like the nurses almost don't want volunteers there and they will treat me as if I am getting in the way:confused:. I also thought the part about being allowed to help with certain procedures was BS bc I am not a nurse or CNA, so there would be liability issues with me doing anything medical.

So, what will I be allowed to do? I had a lot problems with breastfeeding my own kids and as a result I have learned a lot on the subject. Would it be ok for me to help a new mom with positioning and or give advice, or is that overstepping my bounds as a volunteer? If you had a volunteer on your floor, what would you want them to help you with?

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It's probably best if you wait until tomorrow and find out from the hospital itself what they will have you be doing. Then you can come back and run ideas past us.

Don't be surprised if they start you on a pretty tight leash. They need to get to know you and find out if you can be trusted with more responsibility. They also need to know you won't exceed the limits they place on you. Once you show yourself to be reliable and disciplined, they may very well loosen up and ask more of you.

Initially, I would think they would have you doing things like stocking shelves and cribs, distributing water, answering call lights, and other tasks that fill an important need but steer away from patient care until they know you better. If they have a nursery, you might get to rock and/or feed babies.

Hard to say until you hear from them. Let us know what they tell you and we'll be glad to give you all kinds of moral support.

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Thanks, I'll let you know how it goes tommorrow. I am super excited:D

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Thanks, I'll let you know how it goes tommorrow. I am super excited:D

Yeah...here they don't let you into pt care for at least six months, and you have to have perfect attendance. It's kind of obnoxious, since I'm the oldest daughter of a single Mom and the only other one that can drive, so if something comes up for Mom, I have to pick up my sibs/take care of them (I have two teenage siblings).

Even then I don't think you'll be able to help with breastfeeding or even working directly with the babies...liability issues I'd assume, and it'd be hard for the nurses to hear "but the volunteer told me to do XYZ" and whatnot.

Edit: As for the nurses...some will like/appreciate you, some will totally ignore you/stare at you like you're a weird new creature, and some will hate you. It's kind of hit and miss.

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Specializes in CVSICU, Cardiac Cath Lab.

Don't drop the babies. Nurses and moms kind of frown upon that.

In all seriousness, though, good luck :)

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Moms love to talk and tell their stories. I'm doing my clinical on a postpartum floor now and that's what I have really noticed. The nurses don't have time to sit and listen to their stories, unfortunately, so it would be great for you to even just listen!!

At least in my city, volunteers can't touch the patients due to liability issues. Like previously mentioned, it would be mostly stocking, restocking, talking with patients, passing food trays, etc.

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Ok, so I just got back from volunteering. Sadly, the nurse manager for the floor who had requested a volunteer was at a meeting the whole time, so I got put with the unit secretary. I mostly just helped do some paperwork and ran back and forth from L&D to PP. It wasn't the most exciting thing, though I did see a baby crowning when I was sent to deliver something to a nurse (the mom had basically arrived in the final stage of labor so she was on the floor with everyone trying to hoist her up on the bed and it was pretty chaotic, pretty cool thing to see for my first day:yeah:). I didn't get to see much of the PP floor which was a bummer. I was hoping to get to hold babies in the nursery.

So are these basically the only things I will be allowed to do, deliver stuff and do paperwork? Can I ask if I could go into the patient rooms? I was wondering if maybe I could go around and tell the patients I am the volunteer and ask them if there's anything they need?

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Specializes in Telemetry, OB, NICU.

Don't expect to touch any patient or baby just yet, at least without knowing what your duty is. Volunteers are not to teach anything to the patient, or not to take care of babies or moms there ; it is in the nurse's scope of practice. You aren't trained to do so. It is a big liability issue. I am thinking you will be helping with paperwork, delivering things, stocking, maybe talking to moms if they need a talk, help them fold things,.. things like that. You most likely won't be allowed to see deliveries or proedures like that due to HIPAA confidentiality concerns. As far as I know, volunteers don't do patient contact at all. But I heard very few facilities hire volunteers to NICU as "cuddlers" which is a different story.

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Today was my second day of volunteering and it went much better. I was placed in triage where there were only two nurses and they were really busy. One of them showed me around and I followed her around for a while seeing what she does. By the end of my shift I did two admits. Well, I just did the paperwork, took their temp and weight and escorted them to their rooms. Other then that, I did a lot of restocking, deliveries to various places, and answering phones. I also change all the linens when the patients leave. I was suprised at how much they let me do . The nurse at L&D to whom I report seemed really nice, so I am hoping after I have volunteered for a while, if I do a good job, she would recommend me for a tech position somewhere in that hospital.:)

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