Volunteering

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Hi, my name is Dianne and I am a nursing student in my first quarter of an 18mth program for my ASN. I have always been interested in Hospice care. I have done home health in the past and had great satisfaction working with the elderly. Here is my question, I have never been involved in the hospice process. Would it be unusual to contact an agency near me and request to "volunteer" with a hospice RN? I would like to witness the in's and out's of the profession to see if I could "handle" it. I did not know if this would be appropriate.

Thanks for any replies.

Dianne

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Hi Dianne,

I did the same thing that you are thinking of. I am a BSN student and I am due to graduate in 2012. I contacted a hospice that is near me and requested to volunteer. They set me up with a training schedule that consists for 7 consecutive Saturday mornings and then I will be placed in the facility so that I my gain experience. They welcomed me and were very happy to hear from me. Hospice is truly a work of the heart and everyone that I have come in contact with up until this point have welcomed me with open arms!

Good luck to you!

Janine

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Thanks, Janine!! I appreciate the advice. I will contact a hospice agency near me. Good luck to you also :)

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Hospices do use volunteers, although to shadow a nurse might be a different thing. At ours, we do the training and then either volunteer in the inpatient center, visit patients at the long term care facilities, or are assigned to a home care patient. Because I'm a volunteer, however, the nursing coordinator is letting me shadow nurses (I already have my background check, ppd, etc, so it's easier for them to coordinate it). I think volunteering is a great way to get a feel for the field and to network. The nurses at the inpatient center have been really great about answering all of my questions. Check with your nursing program as well. When I was in school, they let me do my senior clinical rotation with a home hospice nurse instead of in the ICU.

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Thank you so much, I appreciate the information!! :)

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