Opinions on volunteering for a hospice

[LulaNurse]

patient?

I signed up to volunteer for a hospice, at least 4 hours a week. Do you think it will be a good experience for a pre-nursing student? In addition, I will be volunteering for a local hospital.

[ShortStackRN]

Before I started NS I was also a volunteer in a hospice type setting. I worked in a new Palliative Care wing in a local hospital. While it WAS a good experience, I'm not sure how much it will help you with school. It's DEFINITELY a good thing to do..don't get me wrong. I guess it really depends on what they will allow you to do while you are there. I was allowed to sometimes assist with feeding some of the patients but that was about it when it came to patient care. The nurses were SO protective of their patients (and God bless them for it!) that I wasn't really allowed to observe or do anything but answer phones and do some light office work. It was very helpful in knowing what to expect as far as protocol involved in the event of a patient death. I knew what to expect when it happened, however I didn't know how it would feel until I had a patient die during my first semester of clinicals. Hopefully you will get a great experience there! I hope that they allow you to at least observe some things that they will be doing and help give you a feel for what hospice care is all about! GOOD LUCK!!