I have now been volunteering on Ward 403 at Royal Derby Hospital for nearly 4 months. Although this has been challenging at times, I believe I have learnt many valuable lessons.
Fistly, my social skills have been put to the test. This is a skill that is essential for all doctors to possess as it could make the difference between life and death for a patient. Whilst on the ward one of my main duties is to talk to patients, as when your stuck in a hospital bed for weeks on end, just having someone to talk to for ten minutes is greatly appreciated. The challenge comes in when the patient can't talk back. On a few occasions, I have been asked by nurses to sit with patients who are unable to talk, sometimes for over an hour. What you have to understand is that in many cases this is the first time in their life that the patient cannot talk, so you must appreciate how frustrating it must be for them. I was asked to sit with an elderly man for a few weeks in a row to remind him that he should not stand up. The first week, it was very difficult to communicate with this patient as the medication he was on made him slightly dellusional and due to his illness he was unable to talk. However, it was a pleasure to watch him recover over the next few weeks and by the end I was able to hold a full, two way conversation with him.
Before volunteering, the idea of a hospital ward was fairly foreign to me, so having the oppurtunity to watch the everyday running of a ward has been very valuable. Despite the fact that the jobs I carry out are often menial, I know they are appreciated, not only by the patients, but also the staff on Ward 403. Soon activity packs are going to be introduced on the wards, so we patient support volunteers will be able to offer more than just conversation to patients. This will bring a whole new challenge, one of which I will receive with open arms.
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