What do ED nurses need from volunteers?

[medicinelover]

Hello there,

I volunteer in a branch of the main teaching hospital where I live and I have nothing but good things to say about it. When I first started I wanted to be a doctor and I guess I was blinded by my goal. I've been doing a good job but lately I've realized I have been avoiding the patient care and focusing on the medical aspect. No longer am I interested in becoming a doctor, I've fallen in love with the role of a nurse after many turns that my life has taken. Tomorrow I want to enter that emergency room a better volunteer then when I left. For this I ask, what are qualities that make a GREAT volunteer? How can I provide better patient care? The ED is not that big so the waiting room is not too big either. Would it be okay for me to approach the pts and ask if they need water or maybe have a talk with them? I am allowed to have pt contact, I usually assess vitals. Also how should I interact with the nurses, I respect them all so much and I want to help them have a better day even if it's just by smiling. What do you suggest?

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

I was an ED volunteer for 2 years. I passed out a lot of blankets, free newspapers, magazines, and coloring books. I escorted a lot of visitors to rooms. I also stocked the galley fridge and made a lot of coffee.

[FlyingScot, RN]

Making yourself available is the most valuable thing as far as I'm concerned. When I was in the ER and in charge we had volunteers who would sit on their butts at the check in area and do absolutely nothing but we had one who when she came on shift would report her presence to me and ask if there were any immediate needs (there always were). If there weren't she would round in every zone cleaning up rooms (cups and trash) and make the beds. She was always willing to sit with the lonely LOL and talk to them and would even sit in the lobby and talk to our FF crazy people who came to the ER for company. Often that was all they needed and they didn't even need to be seen which freed up at least one bed. She helped hold for sutures, fetched wheelchairs and popsicles at the nurses direction. She was an absolute saint. Unfortunately her husband became ill and she had to leave us to care for him. It was a great loss.

As an aside...we used to give out crayons and pictures for the bored kids in the ED. After we spent hours cleaning up the extensive crayon marks on the expensive wall covering for the 12th time our manager pulled them from stock and told us to let the kids be bored. What kind of "parents" let their kids draw all over walls?!