Volunteering in Hospice
Volunteering in Hospice
I am a student at Harbor Springs High School and a member of National Honor Society (NHS) in my school. As a member of NHS I am required to practice in volunteering activities. I am currently volunteering with Hospice of Little Traverse Bay at Petoskey. Volunteering at Hospice has been opening experiences for me. It has taught me a lot of precious things about life.
When I submitted my application to Hospice, I was unsure what I would do there. I worried it might be really hard. Luckily, we were given two days training, and it is really help me to prepare my self. I learned what to do, what to expect, and what would happen while I was at hospice. Also, I gained a lot of new skills about nursing and health care.
Although I learned a lot of things during training, there is always an obstacle in the real practice of working with the patient. When I talk to the patients, sometimes they kind of ignore me, some of them are so weak that can not speak at all, and some still speak but not really clear. For those reasons, I sometimes have to overcome these obstacles with tricks like talking about Indonesia, playing instrument, reading Qur’an, and one patient reads his bible to me. I have learned it takes a lot of patience to deal with terminally ill people.
The patients really like to hear about Indonesia. I talked about the culture, traditions, weather, dances, and all that. I also play music to them. Many of them ask questions, such as, “What is the weather like?” or they say, “I wish I lived there. It is so cold here.”
In spite of all the obstacles that I have, I still love volunteering in Hospice. People might think Hospice is a place for one who has only a few days to live, but that is not true. Hospice is a place for care, for help people through the end-of-life. Volunteering in Hospice is not just to fill my community service hours; volunteering in Hospice teaches me how to value my life, not to waste every second that I have, and to
I am a student at Harbor Springs High School and a member of National Honor Society (NHS) in my school. As a member of NHS I am required to practice in volunteering activities. I am currently volunteering with Hospice of Little Traverse Bay at Petoskey. Volunteering at Hospice has been opening experiences for me. It has taught me a lot of precious things about life.
When I submitted my application to Hospice, I was unsure what I would do there. I worried it might be really hard. Luckily, we were given two days training, and it is really help me to prepare my self. I learned what to do, what to expect, and what would happen while I was at hospice. Also, I gained a lot of new skills about nursing and health care.
Although I learned a lot of things during training, there is always an obstacle in the real practice of working with the patient. When I talk to the patients, sometimes they kind of ignore me, some of them are so weak that can not speak at all, and some still speak but not really clear. For those reasons, I sometimes have to overcome these obstacles with tricks like talking about Indonesia, playing instrument, reading Qur’an, and one patient reads his bible to me. I have learned it takes a lot of patience to deal with terminally ill people.
The patients really like to hear about Indonesia. I talked about the culture, traditions, weather, dances, and all that. I also play music to them. Many of them ask questions, such as, “What is the weather like?” or they say, “I wish I lived there. It is so cold here.”
In spite of all the obstacles that I have, I still love volunteering in Hospice. People might think Hospice is a place for one who has only a few days to live, but that is not true. Hospice is a place for care, for help people through the end-of-life. Volunteering in Hospice is not just to fill my community service hours; volunteering in Hospice teaches me how to value my life, not to waste every second that I have, and to