Resources

1. General Information on Volunteeriing
2. Girl Scout Patch Program

Volunteering at a Nursing Facility

Thousands of North Carolinians participate in volunteer programs in nursing homes and they represent all ages and categories. Volunteers are of vital importance to NCHCFA member nursing facilities. Activity Departments often depend on volunteers for weekly or even daily activities. The participation of volunteers ensures that we can provide our residents with activities that will keep residents entertained and active.

NCHCFA appreciates the efforts of all volunteers and the exemplary dedication to the facilities and residents they work with. Their time and effort are immeasurable and we hope that their spirit of volunteerism will encourage others to donate their time to the groups of their choosing.

Who can volunteer?
Anyone can volunteer. Volunteers are people who care and fill a special role. Volunteers who are properly trained and supervised provide a valuable service to residents in nursing facilities.

• Friendly visiting
• Reading
• Writing letters for residents
• Participating in special recreational or craft activities on an individual or group basis
• Helping with a wide variety of social functions
• Entertaining (music, etc.)
• Distributing ice water, mail, newspapers, etc.
• Assisting in religious services or Bible studies

In general, volunteers can assist with services designed to contribute to the mental, social, spiritual and emotional well being of residents in ways, which supplement, but do not replace the regular job responsibilities of a facility's staff. NC State law prohibits volunteers from providing direct patient care or other such services. Volunteers should learn how the facility wants problem - solving or complaint resolution handled.

Volunteers "bring in" the community and improve the quality of life for all residents. Be an active volunteer; your acts really do contribute positively to the openness of a facility and ensures "interaction" between the community within the nursing facility, and the community around the nursing facility.

A volunteer can reassure the aged resident in nursing facilities that he or she has not been forgotten. Listening, a sense of humor, a pleasant unhurried manner, a generous act, and a breath of the outside world are the volunteer's contributions. The volunteer's time, effort and friendship reflect a genuine interest in and concern for the resident and community acceptance of the nursing facility and its staff.

1. Understand the job you undertake.
2. Accept training appreciatively, and contribute your own experience.
3. Match your interests to the needs about you and the job.
4. Serve faithfully, and report new insights about your work.
5. Discover your job's meaning to the total program of which it is a part.
6. Open yourself to opportunities for growth in skill, sympathy, self-confidence and responsibility.
7. Value your special two-way role as community interpreter.
8. Contribute to supervision by self-evaluation and a willingness to ask questions.
9. Give loyalty to your facility and its program. Take problems to the administration.
10. Take pride in the volunteer's role.
11. A promise made to a resident must be a promised kept.
12. Do not be hurried. Move and work at the pace of the residents you are working with. Be a good listener.

Volunteers help provide a quality, caring environment. Call a nursing facility today. You will be welcomed.