I started working in the Emergency Room about one and a half years ago.
When someone asks me why I chose the ER, I often answer that I love volunteering there, that the nurses and hospital personnel are close, like family.
But reader, you are wise: you know I am avoiding the question. I am not revealing my initial reasons for entering the ER, I am listing why it has been a rewarding experience.
A hospital volunteer has many responsibilities, many of them left unmentioned on orientation days. A volunteer primarily is assigned, and preforms, tasks that include folding, transportation, cleaning, attempting to provide a little relief to the nurses.
But the most important thing for a hospital volunteer to do is something that few will remind you of, or emphasize in your training. You must be human.
This is the hardest part. Counterintuitive, I know; we are all human, and yet few of us act that way.
So I made the effort to become human. Two years ago, when I was volunteering at the medical surgery ward, I was a novice, but I refused to let any weakness overcome me. When I observed a patient, staring at the wall, I used to wait outside their door. I breathed deeply, reminding myself that I was no intruder upon their privacy; I was a volunteer now.
When I enter the hospital, I cast off the cloaks of my different selves. I am not anyone's daughter, sister, student, friend, or athlete. The moment I walk into the building, I assume the responsibility of representing the hospital, their personnel, and the quality of their service. Putting on my shirt and ID card, I become just one thing; a hospital volunteer.
And then I would step into the patient's room and ask them if they need anything, if I can restock supplies. If they voice a concern, I become very attentive. Sometimes there is a lull in the activity and we start off a great conversation, and I sit awhile, listening to their life story. A patient played his guitar for me once. Anything to distract them from their situation, even if it is just for a moment.
The ER was a challenge to see if I could create the same connection with patients that would be zipping in and out in a very busy environment, with less time to develop a sense of familiarity. It would be different from the medical surgery ward, and I wanted to see how well I could adapt.
The change of pace was new, but I got used to it fast. Soon I was as comfortable there as I had been anywhere else in the hospital.
Amrutha,
ReplyDeleteI like the style that you wrote this post in. The warmth really comes through. Knowing how personable you are, I can definitely see you succeeding in as busy a setting as an ER. Nice post.
I'm glad you wrote this post. It's really interesting to hear your reflections on ER volunteering, and I especially like the way you describe the environment there and how you have to change.
ReplyDeleteLearning to be human... many of us shy away from the thought of such. You have a certain strength for seeking humanity.
ReplyDeleteI like how you expressed your transformation into a volunteer. I can see clearly now how it requires something different than the average everyday mindset. This post is emotional, but I think it says a lot about your growth in the last couple of years.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your feedback! I was not sure if this post would be as meaningful to other readers as it was to me, but I guess I was proven wrong.
ReplyDeleteIt is so cool that you volunteer at the hospital! I really enjoyed this post. I liked how you discussed something that is usually not brought up. I would like to know more about the differences between working in the medical surgery ward and the ER.
ReplyDeleteI volunteered in the ER a few years ago, and your experience sounds a lot different than mine. I was always restocking items and it always seemed like the people there were in too much pain to do anything. Once somebody came in after a car accident and there was so much blood that I almost fainted. Needless to say I switched departments after that summer.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm glad that you had such a meaningful experience. It feels great to be apart of something bigger than yourself.
What a lovely blog post--I really like how you coalesce the challenges of the volunteer experience into the phrase "being human." I feel like there are so many challenges we face on a daily basis that would benefit from making a sincere effort to be present and be human!
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting post. I have always wanted to work in a hospital, but am too afraid of what I will find there. I am very squeamish, and feel that I will get really sad for unfortunate patients and only make them feel worse. I can imagine that it would feel great to be doing something so selfless and kind, but I just can't bring myself to face my fears.
ReplyDeleteThat was really very beautiful; that's not the sort of experience I'm terribly familiar with, and seeing it through your eyes as much as possible through the window of your prose is both intriguing and jarring, if only so slightly. But I wonder--to say, to "be human" is--what, exactly? Perhaps it requires courage, or empathy, or tenacity through hard work. But so much of what we (I use "we" loosely here, and do not presume to speak for anybody) take to mean /humanity/ is the very same that you must cast off. Your relationships and interests, your identity as anything but a shoulder to lean on and a presence to speak to, or play guitar to, perhaps. It is, perhaps, a different sort of humanity to that which we wander through beyond the pristine walls of the hospital.
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