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Junior Volunteers

  • Thursday, March 02, 2023 9:14 AM
    Message # 13116628

    Hello,

    For those of you that have a Children's Hospital, are your Junior Volunteers permitted to work in Child Life?  Are they permitted to go into patient rooms?  We have permitted Junior Volunteers that are at least 16 to volunteer in the Activity Center only, but not permitted to go to patient rooms.  The reasoning behind this is that there may be kids that they know in the hospital.  I would like to get this changed at our hospital and wanted to get some input from other programs.  Thank you for your assistance.  Nancy

  • Friday, March 03, 2023 10:27 AM
    Reply # 13118267 on 13116628

    We do have junior volunteers that help in our Children's hospital.   They are allowed in the rooms but only with specific direction as to which room.

    Most of their time is spent playing with the kids in the play area, or pulling around kids in wagons.

  • Wednesday, March 08, 2023 9:10 PM
    Reply # 13124903 on 13116628

    Hi Nancy,

    When our Peds unit was opened, our volunteers age 16 and older were permitted to go to patients' rooms.  The volunteers read to the patients and engaged them in play activities like playing video games. 

    The unit was closed during COVID, and the Child Life Specialist left. The unit will reopen hopefully later on this year. 

  • Thursday, March 09, 2023 12:52 PM
    Reply # 13125668 on 13116628
    Rhonda Weaver (Administrator)

    Our student volunteers do get to go into the peds unit rooms. They take supplies to the parents, bring in food and drinks, etc.  We have a toy room that gets filled with donations from various organizations. The volunteers can take a cart around the unit to distribute books, colors, pencils, etc. and toys.  We do have a small gym area and the students can go in there too. 

  • Thursday, March 09, 2023 1:27 PM
    Reply # 13125709 on 13116628

    We have volunteers who are aged 16+ escort patients/families around the Children's Hospital, but we require volunteers to be 19+ to work with Child Life and enter patient rooms. This allows for a little more maturity and sensitivity to patient situations.

  • Sunday, March 12, 2023 12:15 PM
    Reply # 13128567 on 13116628
    Sara Camic (Administrator)

    Yes, our teen volunteers age 16 and up can volunteer in child life, including go in patient rooms. We require everyone to take HIPAA training and hold them accountable. It's no different for teens than it is for adults. I've actually had more problems with ADULTS running into people they know (and complications stemming from this)!!  

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