Volunteering
at Swedish Hospital
By
Shane Hall
Unlike traditional
service learning projects, mine is based on volunteer services I currently
provide at Swedish Edmonds Hospital.
What is unique about this project is that I applied for the position and
volunteer 4 hours every week instead of signing up for individual events,
reaching (as of yet) 270 total volunteer hours.
Although seemingly uncharacteristic of a project pertaining to animal
biology, I donate time helping certain organisms who we are all familiar with from the
kingdom Animalia: people. In the past, I
have seen some projects focus on studies that monitor the health and safety of
wildlife creatures, while others work towards protecting ecosystems by ensuring
safe environmental conditions. These
projects seem to have an emphasis on how we can improve and protect the animals
and living organisms around us. Working
at Swedish has been no exception to this, as my work involves administering a
hospitable environment for both visitors and patients. This is an important concept for the hospital
to embrace because it is necessary to create an atmosphere that promotes
healing for said patients.
Depending on what work a
volunteer conducts at Swedish Edmonds, their title and responsibilities differ. In my case, I work as a Surgery Liaison for
the Volunteer Services Department. My
role is to provide hospital information for incoming visitors with a primary
focus on keeping up-to-date information regarding the current status of
patients in surgery. The link I share
between visiting families and their loved ones in surgery are crucial in confirming
that the family knows the whereabouts of the patient and the estimated time
until visiting with him/her is possible.
Although I spend most of my time working at the main lobby’s front desk,
other duties I have include ensuring that the lobby is clean and restocked with
refreshments for visitors, transporting wheelchairs or other supplies to
patient facilities throughout the hospital, delivering food trays to patients,
answering call lights, and performing patient discharges.
Picture
of myself in uniform outside of Swedish Edmonds prior to my shift. Don’t I look snazzy? I unfortunately could not capture any photos
of myself working at the front desk due to HIPAA regulations.
The goal of Swedish
Edmonds’ Volunteer Services Department is to provide the hospital with services
that would be otherwise impossible to fulfill by employees. Volunteers fill the necessary gap that
contributes to the well-oiled machine that is the hospital’s workforce. The hospital’s mission is to “improve the
health and well-being of each person we serve”.
By extension, this is also the mission of Volunteer Services and what we
volunteers strive to achieve for all people we meet, patients and visitors
alike.
Regarding my experience
at Swedish Edmonds, working at this position has strengthened my desire to
pursue science in the field of medicine.
I have always wanted to attend medical school since I was essentially a
toddler, but serving my community through the significant role I hold at the
hospital has continued to feed my willingness to learn and experience
everything I can in order to participate in a working medical environment.
Additionally, what I love
about working at Swedish is the exposure I receive to medical and biological
knowledge, some of which I can relate to the material discussed in class. While working at the hospital, one cannot
help but hear certain key phrases pertaining to a patient’s health, especially
when I spend much of my time working in the ER, Surgery, ICU, and other patient
housing departments. Although I am not
directly contributing to the work that these healthcare professionals are
undergoing, I consider getting acclimated to this environment to be beneficial
for myself and my future career, whatever it may be.
Although I cannot
disclose internally-used Swedish emails, you can contact Volunteer Services at
(425) 640-4341 and ask for either Raegan Fisher or Evelyn Hinchman, both of
whom are volunteer coordinators and wonderful people I know personally. Either one can provide confirmation of my
attendance.
If
anyone is interested in volunteering at such a great facility for more hours or
simply for gaining experience in a healthcare workplace, you can go online to Swedish.org
and select “About Swedish”, “Support Swedish”, and “Volunteer” where you can
select the facility with which you want to volunteer. You can then select “How to Apply” and follow
the steps to submit an application!
Here are a few questions I have had since volunteering at Swedish:
1. What
are some techniques used by the hospital’s healthcare professionals to promote
patient well-being?
2. What
are some ways we can show empathy to visitors whose family members or loved
ones are admitted to the hospital in critical condition?
3. What are some innovative ways we can provide a clean, sterile, and safe environment for incoming visitors?
4. How does worker morale affect patient healing?
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