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Chaplaincy in Palliative Care Settings

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Post Recruiting Volunteers
Author: Carey
Date: Sep 17, 2009 9:35 am
We have a fairly new unit and are moving toward utilizing volunteers. The director of our hospital volunteer deparment and I are working together to recruit quality volunteers to serve in our unit. Does anyone have a list or suggestions for questions to ask potential volunteers to help determine their suitability for the palliative care unit?

Thanks
Replies: order by [Date] [Author] [Subject]
Re:Recruiting Volunteers (by Tim_Ford on 09/17/2009)
Carey, our volunteer coordinator asks many questions that would be common to volunteers in any area of the hospital; i.e. What do you want to get out of your time? What gifts do you offer? What areas are you interested in? etc...

But specifically to the volunteers on the palliative care unit we also additionally assess several other areas; i.e. What do you know about palliative care? What makes you interested in this area?

And most importantly, we assess any recent losses or ongoing bereavement issues the volunteer may have. We have a rule of thumb that volunteers must wait a minimum of one year after a major loss in their life before starting on the unit. This has been flexed in some cases, but they remain the exceptions. Furthermore, I usually use that conversation to talk about the emotional impact of palliative work and inform them of the support that is available.

I do hope this is helpful.

Tim Ford
Palliative Chaplain
VCU Massey Cancer Center
Richmond, Va
Re:Recruiting Volunteers (by ghandzo on 09/18/2009)
I agree with Chaplain Ford, especially on the one year requirement. I worked in a major cancer center for over 20 years. We had many former patients and patient's family members who wanted to volunteer. Some of them made excellent volunteers. Others were still working out their own issues with their experiences of cancer. A question to ask is "Why do you want to do this"? If the answer is not appropriate or sincere, the person should not be accepted. Remember that our first responsibility is to protect the patient from well meaning but misguided people. If you have any doubt, the person should not be accepted.

The Rev. George Handzo, BCC
Vice President
Pastoral Care Leadership & Practice
HealthCare Chaplaincy
New York, NY
+ Re:Recruiting Volunteers (by Carey on 05/05/2010)
Thanks to both of you. (Tim is always helpful.) We have our training for our first vol set up for June 16. I will also try to get her in to our next ELNEC in September.

Anyone have a list of vol duties in the unit?

Thanks

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