Volunteering at a hospital?

[GamjaXnamjA]

Hey everyone

So I'm a sophomore in school right now and have volunteered at many

different places unrelated to health care. I just started volunteering at a

local hospital and honestly i gotta say i feel so useless. There is almost nothing

I can do as a volunteer and I dont seem to learn anything out of the "work"

either. Is volunteering at a hospital really necessary? because i would much

rather get certification as a cna, emt, phlebotomist, etc. and do some real

work. If i worked at the hospital but didn't volutneer, would it look bad on

my application?

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[Schemp]

It really depends on what you're doing if you're working there. If you actually got your CNA (not sure where you'd get time for that) or EMT, that would probably cover most of the need for volunteering. You still need some shadowing to get direct contact with physicians so you can actually see WHAT they do and talk to them and such. Although your role would still be delivering health care, it's not the same as a doctor, so you need that contact. Also, who knows, maybe if you do no volunteering and only stuff where you get paid you might be viewed as uncharitable, which is generally something they're looking for. I realize that's kind of an extreme view, but is it worth risking it? Just do what everyone does, suck though it may.

 

[scarletgirl777]

Hey everyone

So I'm a sophomore in school right now and have volunteered at many

different places unrelated to health care. I just started volunteering at a

local hospital and honestly i gotta say i feel so useless. There is almost nothing

I can do as a volunteer and I dont seem to learn anything out of the "work"

either. Is volunteering at a hospital really necessary? because i would much

rather get certification as a cna, emt, phlebotomist, etc. and do some real

work. If i worked at the hospital but didn't volutneer, would it look bad on

my application?

I think that volunteering in a hospital is so common just because it's 2 birds with one stone not because it's inherently better than any other activity. I think as long as you consistently volunteer in some capacity and get clinical experience in some capacity, even if it's not the same activity you'll be just fine. In fact, doing multiple activities is probably a good thing. I don't know if getting a certification for anything is ever "necessary," but I'm sure it can't hurt.

 

[HumidBeing]

Volunteering and clinical experience are two different things. There is no requirement that volunteering be done in a hospital, or any clinical setting.

Clinical experience can be paid work, or volunteer work. If you'd rather get certified in one of those areas, by all means, go for it.

Volunteer and clinical experiences are only meaningful if they are meaningful to YOU. If you feel bored and useless, that volunteer position isn't the right one for you.

 

[iluvpuppies]

Hey everyone

So I'm a sophomore in school right now and have volunteered at many

different places unrelated to health care. I just started volunteering at a

local hospital and honestly i gotta say i feel so useless. There is almost nothing

I can do as a volunteer and I dont seem to learn anything out of the "work"

either. Is volunteering at a hospital really necessary? because i would much

rather get certification as a cna, emt, phlebotomist, etc. and do some real

work. If i worked at the hospital but didn't volutneer, would it look bad on

my application?

to answer ur question: nope, volunteering at a hospital is not necessary. u can def do other things instead. Do whatever interests you to do so u make the most of ur experience!

 

[scattun]

You could get our emt, and then volunteer with a rescue squad if you still felt compelled to volunteer in a clinical setting.

 

[bigman225]

If you're serious about being useful it seems like the EMT/CNA path is the best, and you still have time to pursue it since you're only a sophomore. If not, suck it up and volunteer (don't be like me and have subpar ECs!)

 

[pakbabydoll]

I feel the same way. Actually I work at the hospital I volunteer at so most of the time I end up going up to my department and hanging out there. Since I do know a lot of people there they used to let me do all sort of stuff (hooking patients to monitor, vitals, transporting patients, getting patient history, triage paper work) but since our hospital turned magnet hospital they won't let volunteers do anything anymore I feel so useless now and I am thinking of quiting volunteering there. I have ~200 hours so maybe thats enough for clinical experience.

 

[GamjaXnamjA]

thanks everyone for your responses, about how many hours of volunteer work at a hospital setting did you guys do? i'm thinking about stopping when I have around 200-300 hours