Volunteering is an activity available to people of all ages that not many people know about. It is easy to get involved and the experience will last a life time. Helping around the hospital in various ways doesn’t only help build up volunteer hours but also helps make great friendships with people that you otherwise wouldn’t meet.
First time volunteers aren’t allowed to do much.
“Everyone starts out in the escort which is the basic transport area where you do a lot of errands for different departments through out the hospital,” said Becki Carl Stutz, the volunteer coordinator for about two years. “Once you have a good foundation and know your way around the hospital then we’re able to put you in [a specific] department.”
“You start out in medical records, pushing wheelchairs and delivering flowers,” sophomore Kendra Moore, a volunteer of over a year, said. “Over the summer, though, I worked in the nursery with the babies.”
Which means that as you continue volunteering at the hospital more options open up. Options like working in the nursery or in surgery.
“I would help get the rooms ready and clean them out,” junior Dakota Driscoll said on preparing rooms for in surgery. She’s been volunteering at the hospital for three years.
Driscoll and Moore are only two of around 20 high school students who work alongside more experienced adult volunteers. These volunteers have not only mastered the hospital, but working as a volunteer has prepared them for the real world.
“Working in the gift shop has helped me learn skills for retail like pricing and working a register,” Driscoll said.
“I want to be a doctor when I grow up and volunteering at the hospital provides me with experience in the medical field,” Moore said. “I can get a hands-on experience.”
But this experience is not all fun and games. There are rules that the volunteers have to follow.
First, all volunteers have to wear a uniform. This consists of the LMH polo and pants that are preferably not jeans. They also have to wear close-toed shoes to control infections.
Second, there is a privacy policy, HIPAA, that has to be followed. Basically, if a volunteer gets information about a patient he or she is not allowed to tell anyone that information. If that policy is violated the volunteer or worker can be fired.
Signing up for hospital volunteering is simple.
“There are a couple ways [to sign up]. You need to have me send you an application or come by and pick one up. If you’re under eighteen we need parent permission and you also need to get a tuberculosis test.” Becki Carl Stutz said.
“You talk to either Becki or Allison, the volunteer coordinators at the hospital, and you just say ‘I want to volunteer’ and they figure out when there’s an opening,” Driscoll said.
However, there are relatively few shifts open to volunteers. Shifts at the hospital are about four hours each. They are available Monday through Friday from four to six and Wednesdays are very flexible considering early release. Becky and Allison try to fit your schedule in as best as they can.
If you are interested contacting Becki is simple, just call her at 505-3146 and she can help you become a volunteer.
“You pick the days that you want to work,” Moore said. “I would work on Tuesdays and Wednesdays [over the summer].”
Moore and Driscoll agree on one thing. The people they meet while helping out at the hospital are one of the best parts of the experience.
“I’ve met some really cool older ladies and I’ve seen some really cute babies and happy mothers,” Moore said
So after school, when the couch is calling your name and you know that you should find something productive to do instead, hop in your car and go volunteer at the hospital. You might end up making someone’s day.
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