The Role of Volunteers in Hospice Care
Summary
TLDRRebecca Griffith, Volunteer Coordinator at Open Arms Hospice, discusses her role in recruiting and training volunteers to support patients and families. With 180 volunteers, they provide non-medical care, emotional support, and resources, ensuring patient comfort and caregiver respite. Griffith shares her personal connection, having family members cared for by the hospice, and emphasizes the universal, compassionate care provided. Interested volunteers can apply online or by phone, undergoing interviews, background checks, and orientation before partnering with experienced volunteers.
Takeaways
- 🌟 Rebecca Griffith is a Volunteer Coordinator at Open Arms Hospice, responsible for recruiting, training, and orienting new volunteers.
- 🏠 Open Arms Hospice has about 180 volunteers who support both in-home care and hospice house patients.
- 🤝 Volunteers act as resources for families and patients, providing non-medical care and support to ease the burden on medical professionals.
- 👨⚕️ Volunteers work closely with staff, including nurses, social workers, and CNAs, to meet the needs of patients and their families.
- 🛏️ The hospice provides various support services such as hospitality, companionship, and giving caregivers a break.
- 📦 Volunteers assess and fulfill requests for items like blankets, pillows, and prayer shawls, sourcing from local community resources when needed.
- 🎵 At the hospice house, volunteers cater to patient preferences, such as setting up music or helping with entertainment devices.
- 🍏 They also ensure that patients' needs for snacks and hydration are met through initiatives like the 'Cheer Cart'.
- 💖 Rebecca's personal connection to the hospice's services is highlighted by her grandfather's care and her great aunt and uncle's recent admission.
- 👥 The hospice's care is described as compassionate and respectful, regardless of whether one is a staff member or a patient's family.
- 📝 Interested volunteers can apply online through the website, by phone, or in person at the hospice house, with a process that includes an interview, background checks, and orientation.
Q & A
What is Rebecca Griffith's role at Open Arms Hospice?
-Rebecca Griffith is a Volunteer Coordinator at Open Arms Hospice, responsible for recruiting, training, and orienting new volunteers for both in-home and hospice house programs.
How many volunteers does Open Arms Hospice have at any given time?
-Open Arms Hospice has about 180 volunteers at any given time.
What is the primary role of volunteers at Open Arms Hospice?
-Volunteers at Open Arms Hospice serve as a resource to the family and the patient, providing support and care that is just short of medical care, which is provided by the professionals.
What kind of support do volunteers provide to the families and patients?
-Volunteers provide support such as hospitality, sitting with patients, caring for them, holding hands, and giving caregivers a break, among other non-medical needs.
How do volunteers work with the hospice staff to meet patient and family needs?
-Volunteers work closely with the hospice staff, including nurses, social workers, and CNAs, to assess needs and provide support, such as ensuring patients have necessary supplies or setting up entertainment like music.
What is the process for someone interested in volunteering with Open Arms Hospice?
-Interested individuals can apply online on the Open Arms Hospice website, call them, or fill out a paper application available at the hospice house. After application, there is an informal interview, followed by medical background checks and required health tests before orientation and partnering with a seasoned volunteer.
How does the hospice house ensure that patients' non-medical needs are met?
-The hospice house ensures non-medical needs are met by assessing the needs through staff communication, providing supplies, and working with community resources when necessary.
What is the 'Cheer Cart' mentioned in the script?
-The 'Cheer Cart' is a snack cart that goes around several times a day at the hospice house, providing water, snacks, and other necessities to patients and their families.
How has Rebecca Griffith's personal experience with Open Arms Hospice influenced her work?
-Rebecca Griffith's personal experience with Open Arms Hospice includes her grandfather being a patient there, and later, her great aunt and uncle receiving care. This has given her a deeper appreciation for the staff's compassion and respect for every family member.
What does Rebecca Griffith find remarkable about the care provided by Open Arms Hospice staff?
-Rebecca Griffith finds it remarkable that the care provided by the staff at Open Arms Hospice is consistent and of high quality, regardless of whether the patient is a family member or someone from the community.
How does the hospice house accommodate specific patient requests, such as for music?
-The hospice house accommodates specific patient requests by having volunteers who can set up music, show the family how to use the TV or CD player, and ensure the patient's preferences are met.
Outlines
🤝 Role of a Volunteer Coordinator at Open Arms Hospice
Rebecca Griffith introduces herself as a volunteer coordinator at Open Arms Hospice, responsible for recruiting, training, and orienting new volunteers for both in-home and hospice house programs. With approximately 180 volunteers, the focus is on providing support to families and patients, complementing the medical care offered by professionals. Volunteers assist with non-medical needs such as companionship, offering a break to caregivers, and ensuring comfort. Griffith emphasizes the importance of being a resource for staff and addressing any additional needs that arise, including coordinating with community resources. She shares a personal connection to the hospice, having a family member cared for there, and appreciates the consistent care provided to all, regardless of background.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Volunteer Coordinator
💡Hospice
💡In-Home Program
💡Hospice House
💡Resource
💡Caregiver
💡Medical Care
💡Assess
💡Social Workers
💡Cheer Cart
💡Orientation
Highlights
Rebecca Griffith introduces herself as a volunteer coordinator at Open Arms Hospice.
The role involves recruiting, training, and orienting new volunteers for both in-home and hospice house programs.
Open Arms Hospice has approximately 180 volunteers at any given time.
Volunteers act as a resource to families and patients, in addition to medical staff.
Volunteers provide non-medical care such as companionship and respite for caregivers.
Volunteers work closely with hospice staff to meet the needs of patients and families.
The coordinator assesses needs and ensures patients receive necessary materials like blankets or pillows.
The hospice collaborates with social workers and community resources to address larger needs.
Volunteers are responsive to specific requests from nurses, such as playing Elvis music for a patient.
The hospice offers a 'cheer cart' with snacks and water to patients and families several times a day.
Rebecca shares a personal connection, having a family member cared for by the same hospice.
She reflects on the compassionate care provided by the hospice staff to all patients, regardless of background.
The process for becoming a volunteer includes an online application, phone call, informal interview, and background checks.
New volunteers undergo orientation and are paired with seasoned volunteers for support.
The hospice aims to ensure that no one has to leave if they do not wish to, with all needs catered to on-site.
Rebecca emphasizes the remarkable and consistent care provided by the hospice staff to every patient.
Transcripts
my name is rebecca griffith and i'm a
volunteer coordinator here with open
arms hospice the role of volunteer
coordinator is to of course
recruit and train and orient new
volunteers
both for our in-home program and our
program here at the hospice house so we
have about 180 volunteers at any given
time and what we're doing is just
being
being a resource to the family as well
as the patient the nurses and doctors
and cnas their job is of course for the
patient to be the the top priority and
then we come in as volunteers to help
take care of the family in between
so
we're just making sure that we're
reaching out to all of our patients who
are either in their homes being cared
for or also here at the hospice house
so anything from hospitality to extra
love sitting with a patient
caring for holding hands
you know giving the caregiver a break
anything that we can do
that's just short of medical care that's
provided by the professionals
our volunteers work very closely with
our staff to to meet the needs and
whatever they make maybe so what we're
doing is we're trying to keep our as
volunteer coordinator keep our ear to
the ground but also be available to
staff whether they're
out in the homes
and
that would be the nurses or the social
workers or even the cnas we have a need
someone doesn't have
blankets or pillows or someone might
need a prayer shawl or a neck pillow
we're going to take that kind of assess
the need and make sure that that
person gets the materials they need
we also work with the social workers and
different resources in the area so if it
is a need that's bigger than maybe some
supplies that we might have on hand
we're going to outsource to different
programs and resources in the in our
local community
and then as far as needs here in the
hospice house the nurses will let me
know
you know mrs so-and-so needs someone to
sit with them um mr so-and-so really
likes
elvis music and so we look through our
our music that we have in the back and
make sure a volunteer goes in and sets
up the music and shows the family how to
use
the tv or the cd player however
and and those are just a couple of the
needs but we we also um if someone needs
a snack we're there to try to make sure
they have what they need we have a snack
cart that goes around which is really
nice it's called our cheer cart that
goes out several times a day with with
water and snacks and anything that
somebody might need so that
um we're just providing so nobody has to
leave if they don't want to leave they
can they can be here and their needs are
taken care of that sort of thing
when i came here i
got started and started going to
meetings and i noticed that a certain
nurse looked really familiar to me and i
hadn't put the two pieces together
but my mom helped me out and she said
you know
grandpa was with open arms hospice and i
went oh oh i wonder if that was his
nurse and come to find out um the nurse
i think she's in your interviews um dell
was my grandfather's nurse and so now i
get to work with the people that help
take care of my grandfather and that's
pretty that's pretty awesome and just
recently we had my great aunt and my
great uncle come into our care and just
to see your co-workers in a different
light to be on the other side of it to
be on the family side of hospice is it's
hard and yet you know your co-workers
and you know the love and and um
compassion and respect they have for
each family member and you'd like to
think that you're different as a staff
member but
you're not you're treated just the same
as any other person would be and i think
that that's pretty spectacular that
the care our staff provides our patients
is across the board whether you're a
family member or
just someone down the street who needs
the hospice care coming from whatever
background i think it's i think it's
just remarkable
anybody that wants to be a volunteer
with open arms hospice can go to our
website openarmshospist.org
and fill out a online
online application or they can also
call us we'll we'll make sure that we
put one in the mail to them they can do
an application that way if they happen
to stop by here at the hospice house we
have paper applications available at the
front desk and they'd fill those out the
process from there is once we have an
application we'll make a phone call to
the person who's interested in
volunteering
and then we'll set up an informal
interview and we take about 30 or 45
minutes to
tell the the interested person about
hospice program kind of get to know them
see if they would be a good fit and from
there we send them on their way to do
all of the um the medical background and
the background checks and everything
else and so once all that comes through
and they've done their
tb test and flu shot and things like
that that are required
we bring them in and we have an
orientation and then we partner them
with a seasoned volunteer to make sure
that they feel comfortable in the role
that they've decided to to be a part of
Voir Plus de Vidéos Connexes
Palliative Care and Hospice Care: What is the difference?
Typhoon Haiyan: Canadian Red Cross Field Hospital Experience
Tutti i SEGRETI dell'AMBULANZA | Cosa si nasconde in un Ducato da 100k €?
Relocate to Germany 🇩🇪for free through weltwärts Programme
Syrians in Sinzig: Refugees help Germans rebuild after devastating floods | DW Documentary
Roice-Hurst Humane Society V-2 Cat Volunteer Class
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)