Hospice Volunteers

Hospice Volunteers play a real role in the area of patient care. In Massachusetts for example, without its volunteers, a Hospice cannot be accredited. More important is the fact that Hospice Volunteers, like all the team members, provide assistance only because they desire to. There is no payment except the rewarding feeling one gets from helping another.

What kind of person would volunteer for such a thing? Well, speaking from experience,all Hospice workers, whether paid or not, are "called" to do this work. We have a real need to help the terminally ill and we actually enjoy it. And there are so many options for volunteers! You may have direct contact with patients, reading or shopping. You may have no contact with them at all, by working in the Hospice office, for example, helping with administrative duties.

I can tell you every little bit helps. There are stories of patients who want someone to walk their dog, to buy a birthday gift for a grandchild or to write letter. Others just want company or a ride through the countryside. Still others want nothing more than you to sit with them and let them talk about their lives.

The key to success as a volunteer, lies in the ability to LISTEN to not only what is said by the patient or the family, but also to listen to what is unsaid. The volunteer must make quiet observations of the patient and bring any anomolies to the attention of the Hospice coordinator. The volunteer must learn how to be unobtrusive.More than anything else, the volunteer must respect the confidentiality of the patient.

As much as I give as a volunteer,I receive so much more from the patient. In ways I can scarce explain, I have learned humility, acceptance, good humor, and a joy you would think impossible under the circumstances.

I have made friends with my patients at a time in their lives when seeing a friendly face is all important. And because I have gotten the phone call to tell me my patient has passed, I have learned the true value of time and of life. Both can run out so quickly.

Why do I do it? Because I was born to.

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