Volunteer at Pulmonary Nursing Unit or as a Patient Room Visitor / Welcome Staff? Are either of these clinical experience?

[twixmoments]

Hi there, the hospital I volunteer at is offering two new positions that seem interesting.

1) A general volunteer in a nursing unit that focuses on high acute pulmonary programs, generally tends to be very busy. It's a little unclear what exactly I would be doing in this role, and I am not sure if I will directly engage with patients in any way due to liability / privacy. However, to be in an intense environment like this does sound like a particularly interesting role.

2) The second role visits patients rooms and gets info regarding their preferred name, and ask questions to make their stay more personalized.

My initial intuition tells me that the first role would be "better" and stronger clinical experience, but a part of me wonders if the second role would be strong since it involves directly engaged with patients, albeit likely not in a direct patient care manner.

Thoughts?

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[LizzyM]

The second role is very clearly clinical as you are going to the bedside of each patient and asking questions/recording responses.
The first position is too vague at this point. Will you be running errands? unpacking shipments and stocking shelves? Tidying the family waiting room and making coffee, etc? Or will you be at the bedside as with the second position? It doesn't matter the acuity of the patients if you are stuck in a storage room somewhere with intermittent trips in the elevator to fetch more linens.

Unless you can get some clarity on position #1, I would advise you to take the second one.

 

[SahilMehtaMD]

The second role is very clearly clinical as you are going to the bedside of each patient and asking questions/recording responses.
The first position is too vague at this point. Will you be running errands? unpacking shipments and stocking shelves? Tidying the family waiting room and making coffee, etc? Or will you be at the bedside as with the second position? It doesn't matter the acuity of the patients if you are stuck in a storage room somewhere with intermittent trips in the elevator to fetch more linens.

Unless you can get some clarity on position #1, I would advise you to take the second one.

I think I agree with this. Whenever you're evaluating your pre-med activities or deciding between them, it's important to answer the question: what am I trying to get out of this? If your goal is observe and potentially learn more about a specific field of medicine, then the first choice might be a good opportunity, assuming you're actually working nearby the nursing unit.

But it sounds like you're looking for a clinical volunteering experience, in which case the second option sounds better. At least with that one, you have some assurance that you'll be interacting with patients.

Also remember that while observation and being "a fly on the wall" is great, interacting with patients is ultimately what's going to enrich your pre-med experience (and your application) the most.