Is there any merit in non-clinical hospital volunteering?

[Round786]

I was thinking no since it doesn’t really help you gain new medical experience or serve an underserved area.

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[TelemarketingEnigma]

The merit would be in whether you personally find it fulfilling in any way. Not all merit comes from checking application boxes.

 

[Goro]

I was thinking no since it doesn’t really help you gain new medical experience or serve an underserved area.

There's far more merit in helping those who are less fortunate than yourself.

 

[Bwesternn]

Yes... there is merit in helping others...

 

[LizzyM]

It depends on what you mean by "non-clinical" hospital volunteering.

If you've been asked to work in the gift shop, that's not likely to be seen as a strong non-clinical service opportunity. If you are working in the surgical waiting room making coffee and straightening magazines, that's not really very clinical, either, although depending on how many opportunities there are to comfort the family members of patients undergoing long surgical procedures, you might be getting a valuable experience at dealing with distraught people who are not at their best.

If you think that working as a information desk greeter, or patient transporter, or deliverer of comfort items to the bedside is "non-clinical", you'd hear me argue that such work if it brings you face-to-face with patients, is clinical.

 

[Round786]

It depends on what you mean by "non-clinical" hospital volunteering.

If you've been asked to work in the gift shop, that's not likely to be seen as a strong non-clinical service opportunity. If you are working in the surgical waiting room making coffee and straightening magazines, that's not really very clinical, either, although depending on how many opportunities there are to comfort the family members of patients undergoing long surgical procedures, you might be getting a valuable experience at dealing with distraught people who are not at their best.

If you think that working as a information desk greeter, or patient transporter, or deliverer of comfort items to the bedside is "non-clinical", you'd hear me argue that such work if it brings you face-to-face with patients, is clinical.

I will be volunteering as a caretaker at my hospital’s children club. I’m assuming the children in there will be children of hospital employees or maybe children of patients.

 

[LizzyM]

That's not clinical but it is a valuable non-clinical volunteer service if you are providing childcare to people who would otherwise go without medical services due to lack of child care. I'd be rather surprised if this was a service provided to hospital employees. Check into it and let me know.

 

[Round786]

That's not clinical but it is a valuable non-clinical volunteer service if you are providing childcare to people who would otherwise go without medical services due to lack of child care. I'd be rather surprised if this was a service provided to hospital employees. Check into it and let me know.

Alright…..so apparently, the children or parents of the children in the daycare are not receiving healthcare. My hospital has a gym that provides a daycare to parents that want to work-out. So yeah, it just seems my hospital doesn’t want to hire an extra gym clerk.

 

[LizzyM]

Well, it is non-clinical volunteering if these are folks that could not afford to hire a babysitter for the 150 minutes/week that they should be engaging in vigorous physical activity. For parents, their children are their galaxy and you are a guardian of the galaxy so serve and be proud to list it.