Volunteer Experience for Pre Nursing Student

verene, MSN · Feb 2, 2019

I'm assuming the hours need to be health care related? Generally speaking hospitals, nursing homes, and hospice agencies/centers have volunteer opportunities available so contact local health care organizations and see what their requirements and needs are.

araew2129, ADN · Feb 2, 2019

The suggestions by verene are probably going to be your best bets and most helpful. In case you can't find anything in a clinical setting, try checking with your school. I got volunteer hours as a biology tutor in the study lab at my school.

C_M_L_R18 · Feb 3, 2019

Some hospitals have what I can only describe as “death doulas”- the program I know of is something like “nobody dies alone” or something like that- they have patients with no family or family far away and you basically sit with them so that they’re not alone.

It’s something I’m planning on doing myself because my hope someday after graduation is to do hospice/home care nursing.

NursingStudentakr · Mar 3, 2019

On 1/31/2019 at 10:16 PM, slopez95 said:
where I can look to become a volunteer and get those hours in?

I began looking online. some hospitals require you to sign up on a certain day that's in line with their orientation. However, I found a position in a hospital that didn't have any specific orientation dates, and you could join whenever! Just look around on their websites, also call their office.

Also, I went to my closest doctor's office and asked them in person if they need a volunteer, they said yes. I declined because I found something in a hospital, but just ask around is the best advice I can give.

NursingStudentakr · Mar 3, 2019

On 2/3/2019 at 1:18 PM, C_M_L_R18 said:
you basically sit with them so that they’re not alone.

This is kind of what I do right now....Sometimes I don't know what to do, but I think the nurses appreciate when I even just sit in the patient's rooms to give them company.

verene, MSN · Mar 3, 2019

11 hours ago, aprilkxo said:
This is kind of what I do right now....Sometimes I don't know what to do, but I think the nurses appreciate when I even just sit in the patient's rooms to give them company.

We appreciate it so much! Sometimes all a patient really needs is someone to just sit with them and unfortunately we staff rarely have time to just sit down with some one for a while.

NursingStudentakr · Mar 3, 2019

5 hours ago, verene said:
We appreciate it so much! Sometimes all a patient really needs is someone to just sit with them and unfortunately we staff rarely have time to just sit down with some one for a while.

Thank you so much for letting me know. Sometimes I'm not sure if I'm doing the right thing. Thanks:)

Mergirlc, MSN, APRN, NP · Mar 10, 2019

In the Bay Area, there are plenty of opportunities. You have Kaiser Permanente (various locations), John Muir in Walnut Creek, Stanford, and all the various San Francisco hospitals which also include the two children's hospitals (UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital) in SF and Oakland.

A lot of these opportunities tend to be not too "hands-on" due to liability issues so you won't be prepping IVs or handling blood products, etc. Many of these you may go into a patient's room, provide some type of service (activities, refreshments for visitors, hand massage) but you will be interacting with the patient and that counts! I know, as a fact, there are some opportunities that pop up from time to time working on the hospital floor where you answer the phone and process paperwork.

You just have to do the legwork. Look on the hospital website and they should have all the information you need there. Also keep in mind it's not an instant thing to become a volunteer. Depending on where you go, it can take anywhere between 2-4 months before you start. After all, you have to have proof of vaccinations/titers, TB Test, and background check.

BSNstudent_2022 · May 7, 2019

Hi,

I am a current volunteer at Kaiser in the Eastbay, and the process took me at least 6 months from the day I applied to an actual interview. Then two months post interview until I started working as a volunteer (includes orientation, and updating all of my vaccines, including two TB tests). If you don't have that type of time on your hands to wait, then I would suggest Alta Bates Medical Center. A friend of mine applied to volunteer and got placed within a month. You should try there. Again, you will need to update your vaccines to work in a hospital setting. Hopefully that helps!