Replies

  • Debra Fujita March 23, 2009 at 8:01am
    It depends upon the volunteer and the amount of time that the volunteer had spent with the patient prior to the death.
    When I have a volunteer that has spent several months with a patient I always ask the volunteer if they need some time off to process. I encourage the volunteer to attend the memorial service and say goodbye to the family. I also explain if they want to keep in contact with the family for any reason that this needs to be discussed with our bereavement coordinator. The family needs to move and and so does our volunteer.
  • Frances Shani Parker March 19, 2009 at 10:56pm
    Absolutely, there should be no set time frame for a volunteer to return. The volunteer is usually in the best position to make that decision to return or even not return. Also, a decision might be made to try another type of hospice volunteering, such as office work, education, or fundraising, with no involvement with direct patient care.
  • Greg Schneider March 19, 2009 at 9:36pm
    In the majority of cases volunteers that have received proper training in self-care and are supported by their hospice and its volunteer community will be able to make this assessment on their own. Volunteers in their first year of service are the most vulnerable and should be given opportunity to discuss their experiences with the patients and families they are serving. Encouraging volunteers to journal their experiences will be useful in recalling and sharing their ongoing emotions.

    Volunteer programs that have monthly or bi-monthly volunteer support meetings that permit volunteers to come together as a community to periodically share their stories will find that most of their volunteers will be able to move on to a new patient without delay. It is very important that these volunteer meetings are facilitated by the volunteer coordinator and experienced volunteer mentors. This will allow the volunteer coordinator to know ahead of time whether a certain volunteer is likely to be affected by the loss of their patient.

    While support meetings are very useful in this regard, there may be situations where the loss affects a new volunteer unexpectedly. There may be circumstances associated with the death, the experience the volunteer had with the family or the volunteer's own life experience that will make them more susceptible to the loss. In those cases, staff intervention may be required or the volunteer can take time off.

    The volunteer coordinator should offer to discuss the patient's death with the volunteer after he or she has had time to reflect on the loss. This discussion will be useful in assessing where the volunteer is in their grieving process.

    In most cases, the volunteer should be the one to make the decision as to when they are ready for the next assignment and therefore it is not necessary to purposefully establish a time duration between patients for your volunteers.
  • Frances Shani Parker March 19, 2009 at 3:57pm
    I think the amount of time before a new patient is assigned to a volunteer after a previous patient has died depends on the relationship the volunteer had with the patient and the coping skills of the volunteer. Other variables involve the volunteer's life (other patients they have, personal life concerns, timing and circumstances of the patient's death). As they go about enhancing patients' lives, volunteers should have an ongoing awareness of maintaining quality in their own lives. Ultimately, this will make them better people in general as they interact with everyone.
  • Crystal H. March 19, 2009 at 3:39pm
    It depends on the volunteer. Some are able to start back right away and others need a little time. The volunteer will let you know just ask if they would like some time before being assigned again.
  • HVTO March 19, 2009 at 3:34pm
    Excellent question.

    There are a lot of variables.
    I think it depends on the amount of time the volunteer has been with the patient (days vs years). The volunteer has the option to refuse to do more patient care for awhile but it would be great if they could talk to your bereavement coordinator following the death to help identify any issues.
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