Volunteering for Hospice?

[Virgie]

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Hi Everyone,
Regarding volunteering, has anyone volunteered for Hospice? I am planning to, I was thinking that it might be pretty original? or am I wrong? I have over 5000 hours of clinical experience, and I already work with patients who have experienced a neonatal loss. I'd like more experience with death/dying, so I thought volunteering with Hospice might be a good idea, any ideas, comments?🙂

 

[IndyZX]

>5000 hrs? wow.

thats like 125 40hr weeks, or 2.5 yrs of full-time clinical experience. i doubt that you would need any more for application purposes, but i have heard positive comments from people who work in hospices.

 

[SonGoku]

I volunteer with Hospice, and I've had a positive experience. You have to go through training, length of training depending upon what kind of volunteering you want to do. I am a patient and family support volunteer, so I did training over one summer every Saturday for over 2 months. I chose this so that I could have patient contact and visit with them. But there are lots of options (my brother volunteerd in their thrift store). It's a very unique experience, and I'm very glad that I've been exposed to patients with these special needs.
As far as it being "original," I have only met one other person that is a Hospice volunteer who is pre-med. But then again most of my friends are not pre-med, so it's hard to say. I do know that the branch office I volunteer through does not have many students volunteering for them. The volunteers are mostly senior citizens. I noticed that alot of them started volunteering for Hospice because one of their loved ones had been cared for by them in their final days. So it could be an experience that could potentially stand out. If you're interested in it, then go for it regardless.
Good luck to you.

 

[Virgie]

Thanks you guys! I have an interview tomorrow and I'll began traning classes next week (total of 30 hrs), I plan to work directly with patients also. Do you go to patients home or just in Hospice facilities. I told them I would do both but prefer in home in my area. Come August I am quitting my job (6yrs) so still having patient contact is important to me. I'm both nervous and excited! I plan to apply to med school next year.

I do have a lot of clinical experience but not many hours of volunteer experience. I didn't want more straight clinical experience, I wanted to experience something different, thats why I chose Hospice. We have had family members use Hospice and they were always so great!🙂