Volunteer-ism

One thing I will freely admit that I took away from my meeting with the nursing advisor at the University of Utah was to get some volunteer hours on my application.  So, I started volunteering at the Primary Children's Medical Center, up at the University of Utah.  It's the only tertiary-care children's hospital in the intermountain west, so they get patients from all over.

I started out as a Patient-Family Liason, my job was to go around to all the new admits and make sure that everything was going okay, and to introduce them to some of the things about the hospital.  If they had complaints, I would take it to my superiors, and they would work their magic and try to get it fixed.  No, I was NOT able to fix things like the view out of the window (immunocompromised unit - IMU - had the best views), the quality of the TV (again, the IMU had the best), or when they would be able to leave (ask your doctor).  I then also started in the ER, making kids happy with toys, games, coloring, food, slushies...because of school, I'm just in the ER for 3 hours each week.  My goal is to get a 4.0, so there will be a lot of time devoted to studying.  (Mental note to self: get a whiteboard to study with, better to repeatedly WRITE everything down on.)

So today was one of my days.  And I do like making those kids happy, because happy kids = happy parents = happy kids = happy staff.  There were a couple times that after they were brought back into their rooms, I was in there before the nurses and doctors, asking what they may want.  Or just bringing it in, because a screaming kid who isn't the patient is generally bored and the introduction of some crayons and paper will make the screaming stop.  (As it did today)  And sometimes just bringing some toys along uninvited also helps.  They're free to use, but the kicker is that they can't leave the ER.  Also make parents happy because as long as they don't give anything to a kid who can't eat or drink, I will gladly provide THEM with sodas, water, juice, whatever.

But it was a good feeling to leave, knowing that I was the first person that an unhappy toddler had waved to after being there at LEAST 3 hours.  (I also scored a high-five when I brought some toys by as a nice change to the books).

Next time: Orientation and you want me to do WHAT?