Tonight was my first night volunteering at St Joseph Medical Center, in the emergency department. It was actually a lot more fun than I expected, and I got to do things I never anticipated.
At first, things went exactly as planned. I checked the supplies in empty rooms, filled what needed it, went to the stock room and prepped some blood tube packets and a few other small things. The problem was, 30 minutes in I had already finished what was supposed to last 4 hours.
The volunteer that trained me last week had told me that the nurses generally ignore the volunteers, but I decided not to let that happen. I started talking to them, made sure I caught their names off their badges so I could call them by their name instead of hey you in the green, explained I was a nursing student and told them if they needed help please ask, I would appreciate the chance to learn. About that time a tech came in, and just happened to be the guy that taught me CPR. That little bit of an outside connection, along with being forward with the nurses paid off in the first night.
It didn't take long at all and a few of the nurses were asking me to do things. Granted nothing important, but I was moving patients from the ER to other departments, taking people out to their cars to go home, being mostly useful. I got to watch a doctor remove a do it yourself eyebrow piercing. Talked a psych patient down enough they took the restraints off his arms as long as he behaved. Helped hook up a few monitors, and even got to help put a cast on.
The 2 most interesting events of the evening were the teenage kid that got high for the first time, that went through bouts of paranoia and laughter. His parents thought he was probably going to die of an overdose. I also brought a lady a drink, and she started talking, stopped mid sentence for a bit, then started back up again. Pretty soon i heard water hitting the floor....Hey you in the green, I'm just a volunteer you better come clean this up.
The thing I was most worried about going in was walking into peoples rooms. We're always taught when someone is sick you leave them alone so they can rest, and above all else respect others privacy especially when they're so vulnerable. So to me, it was very counter-intuitive to walk into a room and ask if I could get anything for them. Even though I didn't have to, I forced myself to do this a few times. I need to get used to it. As a result, I got to help a few people, and meet some very gracious family members. I also answered a few call lights, again not really in the scope of a volunteer but what the hell, if all they need is a drink or help adjusting in the bed, I can do that. If it was something more important I would go find a nurse.
All in all it was a very good night, and I think will be great experience for me going forward. Plus after I broke the ice I got to start getting to know some amazing people in the nursing staff, which is great because I need more people at my bbq's.
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