Okay, I haven't read all of the posts, but I actually agree with the OP. That being said, for the volunteers that DO stuff, on behalf of all of the techs, MAs, or nursing stuff-THANK YOU for your contribution. Much of the restocking makes our lives much easier as we can actually do patient care-related work. Not sure how music2doc's average day works, but for mine, I work 12 hr shifts. if I'm lucky, with a slow day (which never happens), I can get a decent lunch. Instead, I usually get 20 minutes to scarf down stuff before I get paged out of lunch. Only a 20 min lunch/break for a 12 hr shift? That's something you don't see often...Yes you can tell me it's not labor-compliant, etc etc, i have rights, yada yada yada...but who are we to say ANYTHING, when residents do the same thing.
That being said, I will say that volunteers that get stuff done in OUR ER are NOT part of the norm in the volunteers we receive in the ED. Most of them stalk the attendings, ask them questions while they're busy trying to teach the residents and M3/4s, disregard nursing staff, and some start thinking they can pull IV lines from patients, and start assisting consults without any permission (volunteers aren't allowed to participate in patient care anyway).
What I would like from volunteers, is to stock the main things in the ED, and just be ready to replace beds when they know someone is going to be admitted or DCed. And if they do that, I'd be happy to tell them what I know from working in the ED (yes, i'm only a tech, but it doesn't mean I have NO IDEA how an ED runs, or some of the issues we have). Heck, I'd be happy to bring in our volunteers after a trauma code debriefing, or part of the discussion as the attending explains to us how to use a slit lamp, or when radiology deciphers an xray. But honestly, we have volunteers that aren't like that, and thats what makes things very frustrating.
I'm not saying I "own" the volunteers-I say this after volunteering in an ED for over 3 years, showing up on night shifts and on almost all holidays. I know I sound pretentious here, but I feel that I've paid my dues and worked my way up the ranks. That being said, nobody has to follow my footsteps, but what I'm asking is not that much. I learned in the ED, from both nursing and medical staff, that nobody is going to give you a free-pass for anything-you gotta earn it. And sometimes I find it insulting when they think that just "showing up" is just community service. If you don't like it so much, you'd be better served being in a soup kitchen and working with the homeless population or those who don't have means to feed themselves...
Again, for those of you who actually get stuff done, and restock, honestly, I can see the work. and I thank you time and time again for coming in and making my shifts bearable. But for those of you who don't, I'm more than happy to ignore you and make you feel unwelcome in our ED, cuz we're not expecting THAT much (only linens, suction canisters, clean beds), and you have to remember that this is a public, patient care facility. It's not just a gallery where you get to watch "OH DOOD CHECK OUT THAT FRACTURE WITH THE BONE STICKING OUT"...It's really disrespectful to our patients.