How do you feel about volunteers?

SFDRN · Jun 8, 2006

I have had similar experiences at the hospital where I am volunteering right now. The nurse manager runs around all the time and seems really busy and always has a little project for me when she sees me, but she's usually not around. At first, I walked around with the PCA's and collected lunch trays and got water for pts, but then I started covering the desk for the clerk so that she could take a break.

But most of the time, there is nothing to do and I am bored and feel totally like I'm in the way. Not to mention the fact that a lot of the staff looked at me like I was a freak for wanting to volunteer. It's been about 3 months now and I have yet to have a real conversation with anyone other than the clerk, who likes me because I can cover the desk adequately enough for her to take a cigarette break.

I feel the same way you do--the people are really unfriendly towards volunteers. The nurses are stressed out and tired from long 12 hour shifts, and the PCAs generally hate their jobs. Everyone just acts really skeptical and mistrustful all the time. I guess it's to be expected when you are under constant pressure from pt families threatening lawsuits (happened today).

Most of the time I try to take it in stride and not take anything personally. Another thing I've been thinking of doing is bringing in some sweets or something--I saw another volunteer do that once and the staff converged on it like it was the last bit of food on earth. It definitely inspired a lot of good will.

Good luck with your volunteering and please don't give up. Ask your Coordinator to place you in a faster-paced part of the hospital where you might be more useful. I plan to pretty soon, so that I can also get a feel for different units and the different care provided.

capribry · Jun 8, 2006

Thanks for the response, I try not to take things personally and I'm not going to quit until I start school in Aug. b/c I'm not going to have time to work, volunteer, and go to school. Hopefully they will have something for me to do. Also, I am the only volunteer for both units so it's not like someone comes in before me and finish all the jobs before I get there. I'm not going to think too much about and will just do my job with a smile. I just hope that when I become a nurse that I won't be so grumpy or unapproachable.

TazziRN, RN · Jun 8, 2006

have you talked with the other volunteers to see if they're having the same experience? maybe the units they're on are different. in any case, when the summer is over, i would suggest sitting down with the head of volunteers and telling her what happened.

luvmy3kids · Jun 8, 2006

Hey there!

I posted a very similar question back a few weeks ago. I, too, am volunteering at our community hospital. I'm on the Birthing floor and I finally am starting to feel a little more comfortable. My first few training sessions, we were suppose to run around the hospital doing little errands (one of the volunteer positions that help us get aquainted with the hospital), anyway, any time I would approach a desk or nurses station, I would get absolutely no response. They would just keep looking down and never acknowledge that I was even there (doing them a favor). Anyway, now that I'm pretty much done with the training part of it, it's getting much better. I feel more appreciated and while I do still feel like I'm in the way sometimes, I feel like I'm actually doing something that does help them out.

Our main duties are.....

refilling water for the patients

stocking the fridge

putting newborn info. folders together

stocking the blankets, diapers, onsies, etc...

and any discharges on that floor.

I do feel like I'm on the bottom of the todem pole, but hey, ya got a start somewhere I guess, right? And those who aren't very accepting of us, might just have a insecurity issue going on that we don't know about.... :lol2:

Good luck to you! I hope you stick it out and it turns out to be a positive experience. But let me say.... I know how you feel.

Take care!

EricJRN, MSN, RN · Jun 8, 2006

It's disheartening to me when I read experiences like this. My initial exposure to healthcare (other than being a patient for years and years) was as a hospital volunteer. I worked ER and Day Surgery for four summers during high school and the beginning of college. They made us feel valued each shift. In Day Surgery, they actually had an end-of-summer appreciation party for us each year. My intent at that time was to pursue medicine, but I had to go to Plan B. I might not have seriously considered nursing without the great experiences I had as a volunteer.

Now, as a NICU nurse, I'm on the other side of the fence, often delegating tasks to our volunteers. I love having them on our unit! Our volunteers can hold, rock, or feed babies; assist with baths, skin and oral care; prepare foil strips for our lipid lines; put together admission packets and NICU welcome packs; and help us stay stocked (by making sure that diapers, formula, wipes, etc are at each bedside). A suggestion: If you're bored and you see a nurse carrying out a routine non-medical task, you might ask, 'Is that something I can do so that you're free to do something else?'

You make a great point, though. Just as I remember my great volunteer experiences with personable nurses and try to relate to our volunteers the same way, you have some excellent examples of how not to act when you're the nurse. Best of luck finishing out the summer!

capribry · Jun 8, 2006

It could also be people personalities. I am the type of person that will say hi to random people just walking down the hall while others don't feel comfortable greeting strangers. I understand what you mean about being ignored. I was making packets for the nurses and ran out of 1 of the sheets. I walked up to the nurses station and waited in front of their face to ask them if they had extra copies or if they wanted me to make some. I waited for about 5 min for them to finish talking about joining a weight watchers programs before they acknowledged me. Like I said before, it doesn't take much to make someone feel welcomed!

That's cool that the volunteers get to handle the babies, I don't think that we are allowed to touch them.

MS._Jen_RN, ASN, RN · Jun 8, 2006

I know that we have volunteers in our hospital. I see them in the hallways. But if my manager told me we had one, as a charge RN, I really wouldn't know what to ask them to do. It might depend on the unit.

As for standing there needing something, speak up. People don't always know you want something or notice your presense if they are absorbed in something. I don't think that anyone "hates" volunteers. We might just not know their function/purpose, or "job" so to say. I know that our Recreational Tx Dept uses them to play games with the Pts.

~Jen

trustsupplyguy · Jun 8, 2006

I volunteered on various nursing units for several years. There was often not enough for me to do during my four hour shift. I solved it by leaving early! Nothing made me and the staff feel worse than me just hanging around, so I talked to my volunteer supervisor and she agreed that it was best for me to leave when the work was over.

Also, I did not get a lot of smiles from people, especially at first, which was fine with me. But I did notice that after volunteering long enough on a unit, some of the staff would warm up to me and we'd exchange greetings.

On thing that really helped was to make a name badge for myself. The hospital ID badge always flipped over so you couldn't see my name, so I made a badge on my computer. That was probably the single best thing I did for myself, because all the sudden both staff and patients knew my name! Because they knew my name, they were more likely to say "Hi Dan" and "Hey Dan, would you file these menus for me?"

There often is a disconnect between the unit manager and the staff regarding volunteers. The manager loves to have you, but the staff doesn't know what to do with you. So I'd talk to the manager, and say you'd like to do more for the unit, and can she/he help you develop a task list. Sure they're busy, but this is a mindless distraction for them, and they'll feel like they've accomplished something tangible. Once you've got that task list, you're in a position to suggest things to the staff. They will be more comfortable with it, because it came from the top down and they know they won't get in trouble for having you do it.

Good luck! It was tough for me in the beginning because of all the uncertainty, but if you hang in there and try some things it gets better!

LilPeanut, MSN, RN, NP · Jun 8, 2006

Our volunteers can help rock the babies in my unit. Otherwise, if no one needs rocked, there's not a lot for them to do. They can't stock - our supplies are kept in a supply pyxis and they don't have logins. They could theoretically fold linen, but typically, the PCAs have that and need the work to do between cares, so we aren't sitting around doing nothing

I think if you become a "regular" on a particular unit, you'll end up feeling much more part of it there. It's hard just to wander into a unit and stay for a few hours and then leave and feel a part of it.

Hang in there and good luck!

snowfreeze, BSN, RN · Jun 8, 2006

Wow, I wish we had more volunteers at the hospital I work in. Maybe if each unit had some guidelines of what is needed that a volunteer could do it could make you more useful and more independant. Just last week a volunteer was quite helpful to a patient of mine. The patient had written a statement that needed to be witnessed, I as a nurse cannot do that. The patient also wanted to recieve a newspaper each day, I didn't know how that was arranged. Many patients would just like someone to chat with, all our rooms are private so not even a room mate and most are too sick to be walking in the halls.

With working towards magnet status, I am now more aware of new people on the unit and try very hard to greet them, learn their names and ask if they need assistance while learning our unit.

justavolunteer · Jun 9, 2006

I'm 'justavolunteer' & I just like being a volunteer. It's sad to see comments from some people that they don't feel welcome. I've been made to feel very welcome at my hospital. The nurses & CNA's are always telling me how much they appreciate my help. (I have no intention of taking up healthcare as a profession. I'll always be 'justavolunteer'.)