Volunteer opportunities
Child Life/Patient Play
Outpatient clinics: Volunteers interact with patients and siblings in busy outpatient waiting areas. Activities include art projects, games and reading books. The majority of weekday volunteer opportunities are in these areas.
Availability: Weekday mornings and afternoons.
Bedside Play: Volunteers work one-on-one at bedside with patients of all ages providing positive interaction and helping with feeding and play. This is a very popular assignment and opportunities are limited.
Availability: Weekday mornings, afternoons, evenings and weekends.
Family Life Center: Volunteers assist the Child Life Specialist in facilitating a playgroup and/or interacting one-on-one at bedside with inpatient children (ages 4 - 11 years) and providing emotional support to patients and families. This is a very popular assignment and opportunities are limited.
Availability: Weekday mornings, afternoons, evenings and weekends
Teen Lounge: Volunteers assist the Child Life Specialist in facilitating activities in the teen lounge that are developmentally and emotionally appropriate for ages 12 years and up. They also provide one-on-one bedside visits with teen patients.
Availability: Afternoons, evenings and weekends
Hematology/Oncology: Volunteers interact and play with children of all ages in inpatient and outpatient playrooms. They facilitate age appropriate playgroups or see patients on an individual basis at bedside. This is a very popular assignment and opportunities are limited.
Availability: Weekday mornings, afternoons, evenings and weekends
Emergency Department: Volunteers provide play opportunities for children (primarily siblings of patients) in the Emergency Department waiting room area.
Availability: Weekday afternoons, evenings and weekends
Tutoring
Under the direction of the School Services Coordinator, volunteers work one-on-one with inpatients assisting them with their school work and/or conducting age-appropriate educational activities. Activities may include math games, storytelling, and worksheets. This is a very popular assignment and opportunities are limited.
Availability: Weekday mornings, afternoons and evenings
Physical Therapy/Occupational Therapy/Orthotics
Volunteers assist the staff in providing developmentally appropriate activities for patients between exercise sessions. Other duties may include: returning and cleaning toys and equipment, restocking supplies, and providing clerical assistance to staff. This is a very popular assignment and opportunities are limited.
Availability: Weekday morning and afternoons
Pre and Post Surgery
Volunteers play with children as they await surgery. They also stock supplies, run errands, and escort family members to waiting areas. After surgery children are taken to the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU). In the PACU, where the nurses watch patients until they are stable, volunteers assist the nurses by transferring the stable children to their floors, stocking supplies, and/or running errands to lab, central supply, and pharmacy. This is a very popular assignment and opportunities are limited.
Availability: Weekday mornings, afternoons and evenings
Emergency Department (Urgent Care)
Volunteers assist nursing staff in a non-medical role. Duties include stocking supplies, changing sheets in holding rooms, assisting with holding procedures, and transporting patients. This is a very popular assignment and opportunities are limited.
Availability: Evenings and Weekends
Inpatient Nursing Units
Volunteers assist staff in a non-medical role with providing care and support to patients and their families. Duties may include playing with children, holding infants, answering phones and stocking supplies. This is a very popular assignment and opportunities are limited.
Availability: Weekday mornings, afternoons, evenings and weekends
Inpatient Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Child Psychiatry Assistant: Volunteers assist staff by helping patients with daily tasks. They may also assist with classroom activities or in waiting room settings. This is a very popular assignment and opportunities are limited.
Availability: Weekday mornings, afternoons, evenings and weekends
ParentWISE™
Supervised by a dedicated program coordinator, these are specially trained parent volunteers whose children have received hospital care. Volunteers interact with other parents by phone or at the hospital. They provide parents/families with information and encouragement based on their own life experiences. Volunteers in this assignment are selected by hospital staff based on their individual experience with hospitalization.
Availability: Weekdays, evenings, and some weekends; phone support is at mutually agreed-upon times.
PeerWISE
Supervised by a dedicated program coordinator, these volunteers are young adults who have experienced hospital care and can interact with current patients by phone or at the hospital. They provide patients/parents with information and encouragement based on their own life experiences. Volunteers in this assignment are selected by hospital staff based on their individual experience with hospitalization.
Availability: Weekdays, evenings, and some weekends; phone support is at mutually agreed-upon times.