Volunteering as a Ward Assistant

I start a new voluntary position at a nearby general hospital on Monday, just had a couple of questions that other might be able to help with :smile:

1) We're all supposed to wear these hideous bright yellow volunteer tshirts, but mercifully the Trust has decided to replace the old ones, and the new ones won't be arriving for some weeks. When I asked about the dress code, I was told "Smart casual please. However, please where soft shoes, and something light and cool, as the wards tend to be very warm". I was thinking black trousers and a white short sleeve shirt (open collar), with converwse shoes or something? Think that'd be acceptable?

2) Last time I went shopping, I noticed that Burton, Topman, Topshop and some other store which I can't remember had signs saying "15% discount for all NHS employees, on production of a valid NHS ID badge". I was issued with one of the proper photocard IDs in the little plastic case, anyone think I could get away with that? :biggrin:

Reply 1

Renal

17

Revd. Mike

1) We're all supposed to wear these hideous bright yellow volunteer tshirts, but mercifully the Trust has decided to replace the old ones, and the new ones won't be arriving for some weeks. When I asked about the dress code, I was told "Smart casual please. However, please where soft shoes, and something light and cool, as the wards tend to be very warm". I was thinking black trousers and a white short sleeve shirt (open collar), with converwse shoes or something? Think that'd be acceptable?

Yep, if the shoes are plain black.

2) Last time I went shopping, I noticed that Burton, Topman, Topshop and some other store which I can't remember had signs saying "15% discount for all NHS employees, on production of a valid NHS ID badge". I was issued with one of the proper photocard IDs in the little plastic case, anyone think I could get away with that? :biggrin:

Go for it! Keep an eye out for pubs nad bars that do NHS discount (then let me know :wink:

).

Reply 2

Revd. Mike

OP

17

Yep, if the shoes are plain black.

Ahh, just realised my black converse hav a massive tear in the side! D'oh! Well, it's either the red ones (somehow don't think they're appropriate lol) or smarter black shoes...which have a bit of a harder sole :s-smilie:

Hmm...I think shoe shoping is in order!

Go for it! Keep an eye out for pubs nad bars that do NHS discount (then let me know :wink:

).

Hehe, will do :biggrin:

Reply 3

theredsox

15

Although I know that you'll be at a different hospital and so it'll be different for you, I found they didn't take too much notice of my shoes. I go straight after school and once I forgot to take a pair of smart shoes and had to wear my scruffy DCs. No one said a thing. I don't think they cared.
So I'm not saying to wear any old thing, but just not to worry too much :smile:

I had no idea there was a NHS discount! I'll have to try that myself.

Reply 4

_GUESS_

At my local hospital they just made me wear a blue volunteering shirt, and we could wear whatever ever else we wanted.

Reply 5

national

11

I just had to wear black...

Reply 6

brokenangel

16

my t-shirt bright green yuk and i get away with wearing all black vans as long as the sister aint on the ward make sure their comfortable once wore a pair of new black dolly shoes oh the pain.

BTW what do u guys do on ur voluntary work

Reply 7

Renal

17

sillyvicky

BTW what do u guys do on ur voluntary work

Learn to punctuate?

Reply 8

Becca-Sarah

19

sillyvicky

BTW what do u guys do on ur voluntary work

It's been very variable in how useful it is - after the first day I wanted to apply for nursing instead of medicine! I've spent days just rearranging flower displays and making beds, and other days where there's no jobs I can do so I spend hours talking to the patient. Sometimes it depends on the nurses working that day - one let me shadow him for the afternoon (more work experience) and another offered to write a reference for my HCA job application after I mentioned getting ignored by HR. And last week I spent 2 hours just sorting out menus - getting them all handed out, and then going round all the patients who are incapable of filling it in (and thats most of them!) reading out the options and then repeating it louder! And its incredibly demoralising at times - I've only had one day out of the last six where someone hasn't died. But I love it - it's almost the highlight of my week, and it keeps me motivated to apply for medicine - if I wasn't getting access to patients and just being in the hospital environment I'm not sure I'd have the same drive to get my application sorted, and every minute I spend there I want to be a doctor even more, just because it sums up my reasons for getting into healthcare - the people. I've learnt more about WW2 aircraft and industrial boilers than I'd ever care to remember.

Apologies for the waffle - I'm trying not to waste my money voting on Eurovision :rolleyes:

, although I did like the Russian entry...

Reply 9

person 34

9

You're lucky you enjoy yours. Everyone I have worked with has never been very welcoming, and sometimes it seems as if they see me as a hassle. I talk to the old people at the place I volunteer at now and some of them are very nice, (some of them not so lol) which is fine - I enjoy that. But all the workers there give me dirty looks, give me tellings off for very unncessary things, and I can't just give up - it took a lot of work to get this placement! *sigh*.

Reply 10

Johnny C.

9

sillyvicky

BTW what do u guys do on ur voluntary work

Some of the voluntary work I do is so demoralising, it's really made me think twice about doing medicine. I do patient feeding on a geriatric ward. When I turn up all the nurses ignore me even when I'm asking for help with getting a patient to sit up etc..., the sister occasionally says hi. The HCA's bark orders at you in broken english and always ask you to feed the most difficult patient on the ward.
Virtually all the patients:
-are deaf or so hard of hearing communication is impossible
-have low mental awareness
-have no interest in eating so you're made to feel like you're hassling them
-are tired of living

After 8 months, I can count on one hand the number of times I've actually been able to have a coherent conversation with a patient. At the end of the day though, voluntary work is for the benfit of the patient, not for you (although it's nice when both parties get something out of it) and so as long as the patient is getting some food inside them, that's all that matters I guess

Other voluntary work I do is helping run a music group for patients with neuro-disabilities at a hospice/hospital. All in all, this is far more enjoyable because the patients actually want to get involved and the staff at the hospital are friendly.

Reply 11

AEH

8

Don't feel too guilty about the disenchantment with medicine after working in geriatrics with several neuro-impaired people. It is a horrible, foul situation and job for all the reasons you've listed. But at the same time, think about every letter to newspapers or story you've heard etc about lay people with relatives in hospital. How many of them talk about how their relatives were fed and the cleanliness of their living area? You can make a massive difference to the person's quality of life and how their relatives see the last days of their mother's/father's/wife's/husband's life, which has to count for something.

Reply 12

Iscariot

11

Converse don't suit anything except Kurt Cobain. And this is coming from someone who worships Nirvana. Consider buying men's shoes.

Voluntary work is great if you wanna randomly chat with elderly peeps. It's fun most of the time if you "attack" it with the right attitude (aka survive this and I'll be a better person). I volunteer at Barts and GKT (minus the G) and have great old time with the folks there. Not to mention if you want to meet serious medical applicants, they're the ones doing the 8am shift at Barts on a Monday morning.

Goooooooooooooooooo volunteering!

Reply 13

brokenangel

16

Renal

Learn to punctuate?

Point taken

Reply 14

Revd. Mike

OP

17

I'm in the AAU (where you get sent after you've been through the ED), apparently there aren't too many geriatrics or particularly difficult patients there. My work involves talking to the patients, helping them do stuff, helping the housekeeper (making beds etc), helping distribute meals/tea/coffee etc, fetching notes, tidying the ward, ensuring cabinets are in order etc, writing up ward charts, and basically anything the ward sister fobs off onto me hehe.

Sounds good.

Did you contact your local hospital for this postion or was it advertised some where?

Reply 17

Revd. Mike

OP

17

same jeans

Did you contact your local hospital for this postion or was it advertised some where?

Well, I noticed on WE that there was a volunteer recruitment board, with leaflets, and the same position was advertised on www.do-it.org I wrote an email, and ot sent the forms through the post.

Reply 18

brokenangel

16

same jeans

Did you contact your local hospital for this postion or was it advertised some where?

Go on the hospitals that ur interested in volunteering at trusts site.

Just find the head of PALS email (it ill be on there somewhere) send them a quick email saying youre interested in volunteering.

Reply 19

theredsox

15

Gosh, you're going to do more than I do.
Last week I sat and stared and the clock, answered the phone when it rang and let people into the ward. (the week before I delivered messages and menus, though :smile:

)
It's such a busy ward that I always feel like I'm in the way!

Volunteering as a Ward Assistant

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