can i volunteer??

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hello. i already have an undergraduate degree in accounting, and i am taking some prerequistes for nursing school now. since i don't have any experience in the healthcare field i was wondering if there is any volunteering opportunities i can do? can people volunteer at a hospital? if so, what do they do? any ideas on volunteer opportunities would be helpful. i was thinking of maybe volunteering with some handycap children...do you think will look good?

thanks

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Specializes in LTC, Cardiac Step-Down.

If you're doing it to look good on a nursing application, consider this first:

Does your nursing school even count work/volunteer experience toward your application?

My school doesn't. My three years of being a CNA count as nothing (I think this is WAY wrong, but that's another topic). So make sure it's actually gonna be worth something before you go spending time on it you could be using to study or take more classes.

If it WILL count, or if you want to do it anyway for the experience, expect mostly to be running errands instead of actually interacting with patients, especially in a hospital. In a nursing home or other smaller (non-corporate) facility, you might get more patient interaction, which will be good for both them AND you - I think you'll get much more satisfaction that way. My recommendation would be to talk to an Activities Director at a smaller facility (most will have one) and see if you could volunteer to help out with their activities. When I did CNA clincials that's what some of us would do, and it was tons of fun :)

HTH

Pepper

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Specializes in SRNA.
If you're doing it to look good on a nursing application, consider this first:

Does your nursing school even count work/volunteer experience toward your application?

My school doesn't. My three years of being a CNA count as nothing (I think this is WAY wrong, but that's another topic). So make sure it's actually gonna be worth something before you go spending time on it you could be using to study or take more classes.

Although I understand the reasoning of this argument, I still think the in-depth experience I've encountered (and continue to encounter) by rotating through different hospital units has been invaluable. I definitely think you should volunteer and immerse yourself in any setting you see yourself potentially working as a nurse (e.g. nursing home or hospital, etc.).

My internship requires that you attend at least 4 hours per week and complete at least 240 floor hours in a period of one year (although you can stay on longer if you wish). We rotate every three months into units of our choosing. I'm currently in an ICU rotation and hope to move on through the ER and OR. I'm experiencing much more that just "running errands" for nurses and it is well worth it. I am a firm believer that you truly need to see the good, bad and ugly of a profession before you can fully commit to it. You need to know what you are getting into, if you are comfortable around patients who are may be in physical or mental distress. Look around your local area for programs similar to the one I describe.

Good luck!

;)

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I volunteered at a local hospital this summer while working on pre-reqs. My assignment was in the pharmacy, which although isn't direct patient care, was a very nice learning experience and hopefully will help me when my pharmacology class comes along. I think if you have the time, and it doesn't interfere with your studying, it could be worthwhile.

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Actually, yes.

My teacher told us about it two weeks ago. We in Southern California have something like this: http://copehealthsolutions.org/services/hwt/CCE%20Program/index.html

It's for Pre-Health students only. For this particular program, you will need to commit 4/8 hours a week for one year. And you will need to have CPR cert.

Check out your local network or with your school. ;)

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Specializes in SRNA.
Actually, yes.

My teacher told us about it two weeks ago. We in Southern California have something like this: http://copehealthsolutions.org/services/hwt/CCE%20Program/index.html

It's for Pre-Health students only. For this particular program, you will need to commit 4/8 hours a week for one year. And you will need to have CPR cert.

Check out your local network or with your school. ;)

FYI, This is the program I am in currently.

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FYI, This is the program I am in currently.

Oh... :p

so what do you think about it? I think I will do this next semester when my load is not that heavy. And I think I would want to do alot of this kind of volunteering because I am not American and I can't work anyway...

Can I ask you a question? On the page of St. Mary, they mention about CPR cert, and they prefer Health Care Provider Certification from American Heart Association. But when I check the site of AHA in LA, they don't have any... Do you know where can I get that?

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