Volunteer
"The last good thing that may happen in a person's life
...is a hospice volunteer."
Volunteer of the Year
Approximately 400,000 hospice volunteers contribute 10.3% of all hours provided to hospices, equal to over 18 million hours per year.
NHPCO’s 2004 Facts and Figures
Many people become hospice volunteers after experiencing firsthand the compassionate care hospice provided to a dying loved one. The true value of hospice volunteers cannot be measured in terms of hours or dollars. Hospice volunteers provide an all-important community connection for patients and families, helping to avoid loneliness and isolation that frequently accompany a terminal illness.
Volunteering Information
Hospice extends an excellent opportunity to you. Volunteering provides a wonderful experience that is unlike anything else you can do. Volunteers are warm, selfless and have huge, noble hearts. Volunteer service is considered so vital to hospice that Federal Medicare guidelines require that at least 5% of the hospice's care be provided by volunteers.
There are many reasons why people choose to become community volunteers.
- To make life seem more valuable and significant.
- For personal growth and a sense of caring for others.
- It provides a way to be useful, help others and perform good deeds.
- The work is enjoyable and makes you feel needed.
- Volunteerism is good for the heart. It increases your self-esteem and competence, while it lessens stress and depression.
- Some school courses require a certain amount of community work/volunteer hours for student credit or graduation.
- Sometimes churches reach out to their surrounding communities.
Whatever the motivation, volunteering is a great benefit for everyone involved!
A person who volunteers is trained for the area in which they chose to serve. There are three areas with different classifications within those areas.
I. Administration Volunteer is a person who wants to volunteer but wants no direct patient contact. They may provide administrative assistance in the office setting. They may work doing paperwork at the home setting. There are also volunteers who sew, knit and crochet projects during the year for patients. There are non-patient care volunteers who mow yards, shovel snow, run errands, etc. (orientation training is required).
II. Patient Care Volunteer is a person who wants to volunteer directly with patients, whether it is in the patient's own home, primary care giver's home, assisted living home or nursing home (orientation training is required).
III. Bereavement Volunteer is a person who wants to volunteer to go through the bereavement process with the patient and the family. This volunteer may start at the onset of accepting hospice services and continue on with the family thirteen months after the passing of their loved one (orientation training is required).
Requirements of Potential Volunteers
- Completion of application
- Two written references on file
- Criminal background check
- Completion of volunteer training
- TB test or chest x-ray with negative results
- Completion of OSHA requirements
- Hepatitis B vaccine or a written statement declining the vaccine
- Signed Confidentiality Statement form
You have an opportunity to set the standard and example to all in your community when you volunteer.
When you invest your time, your talents and your heart into hospice volunteering, you change a life... your own.
How Can I Help?
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, please complete the Volunteer Contact Information Form, or call any Lion Hospice Volunteer Office listed on the contact us page. You may also send an email to volunteers@lionhospice.com for more information. Patient Care volunteer candidates are encouraged to delay their participation for one year following the loss of a loved one.
Referrals
If you would like to make a referral, please contact any Lion Hospice office listed on the contact us page. You may also visit the Lion Hospice website at www.lionhospice.com.