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“If you would like to be selfish, you should do it in a very intelligent way. The stupid way to be

selfish is…seeking happiness for ourselves alone… The intelligent way to be selfish is to work

for the welfare of others.”- The Dalai Lama

What is volunteering? “Volunteering is any activity in which time is given freely to

benefit another person, group or cause. Volunteering is part of a cluster of helping behaviors,

entailing more commitment than spontaneous assistance but narrower in scope than the care

provided to family and friends.” (Grossman 199) It is a major source of labor in America,

accomplishing different variations of important tasks and contributing substantial time and effort

all for the community in general. It serves to help the company or organization that recruits the

volunteer because it lessens having to pay for the human resources and still get the work done. It

also helps the volunteer as they are remunerated through material and immaterial rewards. The

Mercy General Hospital where some volunteers work invests on a person’s personal attributes or

characteristics in order to meet their employee needs. The organization has realized the

importance of volunteers at the hospital. The nurses were always grateful to have them around

for they are always busy. Patients are also appreciative of their work for nurses cannot always

attend to their needs. Benefits of volunteering are found to be satisfaction in life, self-esteem,

health, as well as for educational and work achievement. In writing this analysis, we are going to

look at who the volunteers are, and the benefits of volunteering.

The type of volunteer work would somehow match the motivation for it and who the

volunteer would be. For example, those who volunteer in health related fields would be

interested in a health related profession i.e. nursing, would probably have had experiences such

as taking care of a sick family member or would have some emotional baggage from the past

related to getting over the sickness of a loved one, either ways the type of volunteer work that is
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entered into would depict who the volunteer is. Some organizations provide what we call freebies

or rewards to their volunteers as an encouragement or motivation to join. Examples of these are

the twenty percent discount on over the counter items at the Medical Plaza Pharmacy, free CPR

certification, and free access to hospital gym, participation in hospital events and commuter

programs, and invitation to the annual volunteer recognition dinner. For the last six years I have

done a variety of volunteer work for different organizations namely as a requirement for my

school’s National Junior Honor Society during middle school then in high school for National

honor Society and now as part of my senior project. For me, it is not about the amount of

volunteer hours I worked in but the rewarding benefits I get from volunteering which includes

making new friends, learning new skills and a feeling of self satisfaction knowing I made a

difference in someone’s life.

“The safety of those receiving volunteer services must be taken into account. (Grossman

199). At the Mercy General Hospital, all participating volunteers are required to thoroughly

complete a criminal background check and meet the health requirements. In addition to that, they

are required to attend orientation and training and perform assignment competently. At a

minimum, volunteers need to be thoroughly briefed about the rules and procedures of the

program. At my orientation at the hospital, I learned the Five Fundamentals of Patient

Communication: Reducing Patient Anxiety. AIDET is a simple acronym that represents a very

powerful way to communicate with people who are often nervous, anxious and feeling

vulnerable. It allows us to share our experience, knowledge, and training. By using these

principles, we will reduce patient anxiety, increase compliance, improve clinical outcomes and

increase patient satisfaction.

A- Acknowledge the customer.

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Smile, make eye contact and greet them in a pleasant manner.

I- Introduce self.

State name, role (volunteer) and reason for the interaction. Highlight skills, expertise,

longevity to facilitate ease and confidence.

D- Duration.

Give time expectation. Keep patient informed. Let them know if there is a wait time and

approximately what it is.

E- Explanation.

Keep patient informed by explaining all processes and procedures. Assist patients to have

clear expectations of what will be occurring. Assist nurse staffs by informing them if a

patient/family is unclear about the process/ procedure.

T- Thank the patient/family.

Consistently thank customers for their time and for choosing Mercy General Hospital.

Ask if there is anything else we can do before ending the interaction.

Level of education is the most consistent predictor of volunteering. Education boosts

volunteering because it increases awareness of problems, ability to empathize with others, and

increasing self confidence. The level of education may also predict the level of social

responsibility and hence, the kind of volunteer work given. For example, adolescents are give

lighter and less demanding work such as public relations rather than those that entail

organization, matured judgment and specific knowledge.

Furthermore, volunteering is a way of providing help to others, which can be a self-validating

experience (Krause, et al 300). It can also convince people they can make a difference in the

world, and this feeling is known to buffer people from depression (Wilson 215). The data
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confirm that volunteering boosts self-esteem and self-confidence and increases overall life

satisfaction (Harlow 71). Volunteering at Mercy General Hospital opens the world to a lot of new

things which could be integrated with current life experiences, seeing and meeting the different

people in the hospital sensing the pain and suffering of the sick patients, their relief and pride of

being able to walk again after spinal surgery. The experience that broadens one’s perspectives on

different things—not confined to the books and glamour magazines that are indulged on. It is

truly amazing at the nurse’s patience and hard work is particularly amazing as they devote

themselves to patient care. Working with them on the “graveyard shift” conquering fatigue,

sleepiness, dehydration on a busy night, a volunteer’s presence would eased the difficulties of the

night. As we glance at our patients the next morning sleeping soundly with a smile and a look of

“peace” on their faces, volunteerism somehow made a difference to this people.

Volunteering at Mercy General Hospital opens the world to a lot of new things which could

be integrated with current life experiences, seeing and meeting the different people in the

hospital sensing the pain and suffering of the sick patients, their relief and pride of being able to

walk again after spinal surgery. The experience that broadens one’s perspectives on different

things—not confined to the books and glamour magazines that are indulged on. It is truly

amazing at the nurse’s patience and hard work is particularly amazing as they devote themselves

to patient care. Working with them on the “graveyard shift” conquering fatigue, sleepiness,

dehydration on a busy night, a volunteer’s presence would eased the difficulties of the night. As

we glance at our patients the next morning sleeping soundly with a smile and a look of “peace”

on their faces, volunteerism somehow made a difference to this people.

In conclusion, volunteerism is a vital part of the human workforce in America. Where there is

a shortage on the labor force, volunteers answer this problem. The importance of volunteering
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also helps the volunteers to integrate socially with their community thus, producing positive

mental health. It convinces them that they have made a difference in the world, actually relives

them from feelings of depression. It also boosts their self-esteem and self confidence. Overall, it

adds to their feelings of self satisfaction. Elderly people develop feelings of self fulfillment

despite the boredom of retirement, physical decline and inactivity. It was said that adolescents

who volunteer get better grade averages and are strongly motivated towards school work.

Perhaps they develop more matured perspectives in life and become more open-minded as they

become exposed through volunteer work.

The experience of volunteerism would probably depend on the culture or the country where it

is done for example third world countries would do volunteer work not just for material

remuneration more so on other benefits such as volunteering at school where they have children

going to that particular school or it could be as a requirement in school such as establishing free

school clinics for a particular “barrio” or teaching a daycare facility when there is a shortage of

teachers. As can be seen organizations are able to use resources from different avenues of society

in order to provide for their inadequacies.

The specific focus of this paper is not just the aspect of volunteerism but more specifically

volunteering in the healthcare system. The healthcare system is a sensitive area where volunteers

are extremely needed “vulnerable populations such as children, the mentally retarded, and the

fragile elderly” (Grossman 199). Government resources are scarce, as well as, healthcare

personnel to care for these people are facing an extreme shortage hence there is a need for more

volunteers in this area. However, some of the problems facing this issue is that if volunteers are

to care for these “vulnerable” populations there has to be special training, resources and a way to

evaluate and maintain the quality of the program. The objective of course, is to help these
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“vulnerable” populations to maintain and improve their quality of life rather than just be the

training ground for volunteers. Hence, it is also the responsibility of both the organization

recruiting the volunteers as well as, the volunteers themselves to ensure that this is done.

The aspect of volunteerism brings to mind that in the age of technology and high speed

science, we revert back to the olden ways of reaching out to another human person to help those

in dire need.

Works Cited:

Grossman Marie, Jean Baldwin, and Kathryn Furano: “Making the Most of Volunteers." Law
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and Contemporary Problems. (1999). 199.

Harlow, Raymond, and Nelly Cantor. Still Paticipating After All These Years. 1235th ed. Vol.

49. New York: J. Pearson, 1996. 71.

Krause Nathan, Herzog Andy, Baker Erwin. Providing support for others and well-being in later

life. J. Gerontol, 1992. 300—311.

Smith D. Altruism, Volunteers, and Volunteerism: In Volunteerism in the Eighties. Washington,

DC: University Press American, 1982. 23—44.

Wilson, John. "Volunteering." Annual Review of Sociology. (2000). 215.