I'm new here and I just wanted to say that this website is awesome!
I recently found out that I got accepted into a nursing program and I'm excited to start :). While I wait for Fall, I decided to volunteer at a hospital to get a "feel" for the environment. I was able to start off at the ER and I was pretty disappointed by the experience. When I arrived, the staff really didn't know what to do with me. After 15-20 minutes, I was told to follow a CNA and she explained how to clean and stock rooms. Her explanation couldn't have taken more than 10 minutes and I was left to do things on my own. I was hesitant to enter rooms (just uncomfortable) and I eventually ran out of things to do. I was lucky that another volunteer was present and she explained things better. After that, I ran out of things to do (again) so I went back to the CNA. She told me there was really nothing I could do, but wait around. After that, I decided it was best to leave. The hour and 30 minutes felt like eternity. I decided to change departments - one was for "patient sign-up" (I should have realized this was a administrative position) and I felt like office work wasn't going to help me. I changed to another department (I specifically mentioned that I really wanted an area that would allow me to interact with patients [clinical experience]) so I was sent to the wounds center. Once again, I was disappointed - the majority of my time there was administrative work (filing, faxing..etc) and a small portion was cleaning up rooms. I was told I could shadow nurses, but the nurses didn't seem very happy to see me (maybe all in my head ) and I never entered a room with a patient. I'm starting to feel like volunteering is a waste of time.
I do understand that the staff are incredibly busy and probably don't want to waste their time training volunteers. I just thought that someone might be willing to help me out (I would definitely want to help someone if I were a nurse). I tutored at my college for 1 academic year and I sometimes stuck around after my paid hours to help people understand concepts. I really enjoyed helping them and I wanted them to succeed.
Since I can only do administrative work or cleaning, I'm starting to regret volunteering. I'm stuck doing it for 6 months . I have heard that by staying, they would consider me more for a job in the future (as an RN or student intern). Could I "quit"? I'm sure this is going to look awful though. Even if the department hires me as an office aide, volunteering has made me realize how much I hate office jobs.
I am thinking about applying for a ER scribe position or waiting until my first semester of the RN program to try applying as a nurse intern (we have a 20/40 program - work part time, get paid full time, but have to commit working at the hospital for a certain amount of time).
I've been volunteering as a transporter for quite a long time. It's a fun job, but the best news is I work with the patients, nurses, and have been noticed by the nurse managers. Not all hospitals let volunteers do transportation, but many do, check it out!
I think it really depends on the hospital. At my hospital we have a very organized volunteer program. The volunteers have no patient contact (HIPAA, as someone else pointed out), they mostly man the info desk and waiting rooms. Volunteers at my hospital also have very little contact with the staff, so no chance to make any contacts. Even if I did have contact with the volunteers I'm mostly too busy to really do more than say hello. If you are really interested in getting experience and making contacts, I would say become a CNA, that way you can make money while you get a feel for pt care and see exactly what a nurse really does. If I know a CNA in my department is in nursing school I make it a point to show and explain to them exactly what I'm doing when we are in the room together. I will also hunt them down when there's a learning experience. My facility also hires most of its CNAs who go on to become nurses. Just a thought.
One of my January grads just scored a sweet job at a VA hospital (not a floor med/surg, but something better, IMO), because she got her foot in the door volunteering. She is the envy of many of her peers.
I am extremely grateful for stumbling onto your post! I have been seriously considering applying for a volunteer position at the new Children's Hospital near me. According to your post, you really enjoyed tutoring in college: I would suggest seeking an academic position within the hospital's volunteer program. I'm sure you could tutor the pediatric units? Or you could even think outside of the box and suggest starting a children's/ adolescent (idk which one you would prefer working with) study group for the in-patients! I'm sure they would really like that during their stay, and that might give you some brownie points when applying to the hospital in the future?
Like I was beginning to say... I'm glad I came across this post because I can now evaluate what's important to me in volunteering, and what would be the most enjoyable position. Thanks for the insight, I'm sure not all volunteers have the same experience as you have at a hospital, but you are the first I've heard from so it's valuable nonetheless :)
But if I were in your position: try and do something that's worth it to you, within the volunteer experience. Continue to find your niche!
As I started to finish my first semester of nursing school I applied for probably at least a couple dozen patient tech/entry-level NA positions before finally was interviewed and offered a NA I position. I'm just started to get rejection letters from another hospital system for positions I applied to a month ago. So it might just take some time.
Volunteering at the hospital won't hurt and it may help--and if you're unemployed, it's a good way to fill that time gap, and you may get some good references from it. If you're not being utilized in the area you've been assigned, keep your volunteer manager up to date on that and just keep letting them know that you like to keep busy (not too often and in a nice way of course.)
I have another question....(if anyone is so kind to answer)
I have spent 3 months applying at hospital jobs that don't really require skills (high school degree, BSL...etc). I have applied for more than 10 jobs and I was always rejected. Apparently, some of the jobs require 1-2 years of experience and I have no idea how people manage to get that. Most of these jobs are incredibly basic like cleaning up rooms or transporting patients. I pretty much have given up on it. How do you get this experience? Is there something I'm missing?
The economy is probably what is making it very difficult to get even these kinds of jobs, the demand is high with so many people out of work and people often applying for these jobs that are likely overqualified - a myriad of reasons. That's my theory.
As for volunteering, when I lived in FL I used to take patients out of the hospital via wheelchair. So not everywhere restricts volunteers from interacting with patients. Your plan to move to another hospital may very well be a wise one. 6 months is not so bad, I remember my hospital required a 1-year commitment. I ended up giving them 2 years before I moved out of state.
i don't know how much this would interest you, but i volunteer at my hospital as a "pet therapy team" with my small dog. we go to the hospital together and visit every saturday and are able to go floor by floor and visit most of the patients. the isolation, contact, droplet, and inhalation rooms are off limits but the signage is very good so we usually know where to go.
it does take a certification process and in person testing with your dog but i think it is really worth it. although i cannot do any skills on the patient (like a cna) i can interact and visit with patients which i found to be a great experience. if you are not interested in that, how about volunteering at a hospice? in my area there are a few facilities that hire volunteers to spend time, play games, do errands for the patients. this may be a good experience.....
also like someone else said get your cna license if you can, that way you can get paid to get patient care experience.
Thanks again for the input guys :). I think I'll stick around longer and see how it goes. I do think it's interesting how they seem to want me for 2 days (8 hours total) a week. I know the minimum is 4 hours a week, but I've been noticing that departments that really need people instantly assign 2 days a week to people without asking (they do ask what days you want and time to come in, but I feel odd saying "well I don't want two days...". I don't want to do this since gas is expensive as heck and I have to pay for snacks and/or lunch, so I'll probably talk to someone about this soon. Once I start volunteering elsewhere, I def. won't be able to do 2 days a week.
I've been volunteering for a while now and would like some input about what I should do :S. For the last couple of days, I have been volunteering 2 hours a day, twice a week. All I do now is dull and mind numbing office work (stapling, faxing..etc). For some reason, I don't get to wipe down rooms anymore (I think the nurses just do it themselves). The staff in the office are super nice ladies, but the work isn't great and it's not going to help me at all. In the beginning, the director said I could shadow some nurses and one of the staff ladies finally got around to asking the nurse manager and she said no. She said that I was a volunteer and should stick to volunteer jobs....that I don't get to volunteer if I'm watching someone. Needless to say, I'm disappointed and I feel like I'm getting nowhere with this. I HAVE heard that I might be able to get a job while volunteering, but I have not been told anything about it after I have hinted at it. At this point, I don't know what to do anymore. If I ask to change departments, it's just going to be more office work.
Clearly, you need to go volunteer at another hospital, you are not getting any patient experience there. You're just becoming a free scapegoat for the paid employees to do less work. I was in your shoes once, years ago when I was a freshman in college. In my first volunteer experience, I was placed in medical records where I ended up doing the mundane clerical work that the paid employees were putting off and were happy to see me take over. Never once did I work with a patient. Well, that lasted 4 weeks - I just stopped going without notice.
ETA: I just reread your original post, and you seem to have a commitment in place. I think I did too, can't recall. At the time however, I was not doing it for a chance to secure a job at that hospital later on so I had no qualms about leaving them flat. Think about your options and whether it's worth sticking it out or just going on to better things.
Ask to get transferred to another area, like med-surg. Float around the hospital if you can that way you can experience many different areas. Its not like, you are working there and stuck to one floor. You should be able to float, I would think. No, it is not a waste of time. Any experience is good experience. Just being in the environment and interacting with staff and patients, is helpful!
) and I never entered a room with a patient. I'm starting to feel like volunteering is a waste of time. 
. I have heard that by staying, they would consider me more for a job in the future (as an RN or student intern). Could I "quit"? I'm sure this is going to look awful though. Even if the department hires me as an office aide, volunteering has made me realize how much I hate office jobs. 
Stcroix, ASN, PhD, RN
450 Posts
I've been volunteering as a transporter for quite a long time. It's a fun job, but the best news is I work with the patients, nurses, and have been noticed by the nurse managers. Not all hospitals let volunteers do transportation, but many do, check it out!