Volunteering as a Ward Assistant

OP

17

Hefty day today! One corpse and one alcoholic epileptic woman who would not stop fitting even after a hell of a lot of diazepam, lorazepam and medazolam. She had every single doctor and half the nurses on the ward around her bed, other patients in that bay all had to be taken out. There was lots of shouting and jumping up and down and to my delight I heard one of the nurses say "STAT!" :biggrin:

Reply 42

theredsox

15

So they do actually say stat...

Reply 43

14

sillyvicky

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

I just wear tracky pants and trainers and the voluntary top I wear aint too bad, it's a red polo shirt with a hospital/NHS logo on and Hospital Volunteer. It's quite discreet.

As for what I do, more or less what has already been mentioned i.e. giving cups of tea to patients, restocking supplies, taking rubbish/clinical waste out, cleaning the commodes, cleaning the ward e.t.c. I finished today though as I'm going working in America for the summer. Might return when I come back but I don't know yet.

Reply 44

HawkAhriman

that really does sound, overall...pretty bloody brilliant.

shame stuff like this is so hard to come by =/ atleast so far anyways.

Reply 45

brokenangel

16

britishseapower

I just wear tracky pants and trainers and the voluntary top I wear aint too bad, it's a red polo shirt with a hospital/NHS logo on and Hospital Volunteer. It's quite discreet.

No way on this planet could i wear trackies you wouldnt even be let to sign in at reception.

Reply 46

19

Revd. Mike

Hefty day today! One corpse...

Only one so far? Have done eight shifts on the ward and have had a patient die during five of those... is that a bad omen?

On the other hand, two cubicles were partitioned off last week and I avoided the area because I thought there was a body in there... turns out it was a very obese guy who they'd hidden so the rest of the ward didn't stare.

Reply 47

14

sillyvicky

No way on this planet could i wear trackies you wouldnt even be let to sign in at reception.

I don't need to sign in, I just walk straight to the ward, I know all the door codes and stuff and I have a Hospital ID card.

Reply 48

14

HawkAhriman

that really does sound, overall...pretty bloody brilliant.

shame stuff like this is so hard to come by =/ atleast so far anyways.

I find that quite surprising, I thought hospitals everywhere would be crying out for volunteers. From what I can gather I am one of the only volunteers at my hospital, I think there is a couple more but certainly not many and plenty of wards without volunteers at all. Every now again you get a work experience student from college but they only do a week.

Reply 49

19

Yeah, I've never seen another volunteer at my hospital and the nurses don't seem to think they exist here either.

Reply 50

theredsox

15

I know. Mine never ever remember me. I always have to remind them who I am every single week.

Reply 51

19

^ Ditto. They only remember me now cos I brought them chocolates :smile:

Reply 52

OP

17

Aww, that's strange! I'm the only one who volunteers during my hours, but there are occasionally others before or after, depending on the day. Apparently though, they don't do it voluntarily, they have to as part of their college courses and stuff.

I have quite a good relationship with the nurses on the ward, and there's one doctor from the ward upstairs that likes to take sanctuary in our kitchen, so I usually end up chatting with him whenever he comes down to raid our cupboards or fridge :biggrin:

Reply 53

19

Actually saw three different doctors last sunday when I was there; which doubles the total since April. Of course, when they turned up I was busy hitting the fax machine, so had no opportunity to speak to any of them :rolleyes:

Reply 54

14

theredsox

I know. Mine never ever remember me. I always have to remind them who I am every single week.

the majority of the staff on my ward remember me although there is usually an unfamiliar face every week as they have that many working rotating shifts and stuff and the student nurses tend to be different each week.

Reply 55

19

Yay for understaffing! I got to change a bed, feed a patient, unplug a drip stand, and walk someone to the toilet all by myself!!! And, for the first time ever, I was mistaken for a doctor, TWICE! (That's hugely significant cos, despite being eighteen, I'm lucky to pass for 16)

The downside of understaffing? I had to do all the tea and coffee, all the meals, clean the kitchen, and the highlight of my day: mopping the toilet floor cos some guy missed :rolleyes:

Reply 56

OP

17

I met the best patient today :biggrin:

She was a really sweet old lady, who'd been vomiting earlier. She was asking the nurse for metoclopramide because she still felt sick, claiming that's what her GP had given her, and what she took from time to time. The nurse said that should be fine, and toddled off to get the Dr to write some up. As she walked off, she called out "I want at least 10mg mind!"

After the nurse walked off, she lokoed at me, and gave me the biggest grin and a wink and whispered "I'm not really feeling sick, I just like the giddy feeling I gets when I take it!" :biggrin:

Reply 57

devilschild

2

Haha I just love that story about the old lady! I was wondering- how much opportunity do you get as a ward volunteer to actually observe doctors/nurses? I've applied to volunteer at my local hospital but have had no sucess with finding any GPs or hospital doctors whatsoever that will let me shadow them- I'm not sure how greatly this is going to impact upon my application as I won't really be able to talk about specific procedures etc in an interview.

Reply 58

brokenangel

16

devilschild

Haha I just love that story about the old lady! I was wondering- how much opportunity do you get as a ward volunteer to actually observe doctors/nurses? I've applied to volunteer at my local hospital but have had no sucess with finding any GPs or hospital doctors whatsoever that will let me shadow them- I'm not sure how greatly this is going to impact upon my application as I won't really be able to talk about specific procedures etc in an interview.

Why dont you try talking to some of the doctors that are there when your volunteering and ask them if you can shadow them while your there

Reply 59