Become A Hospice Volunteer

BECOMING A VOLUNTEER

Click Here to Watch: So You want To Be A Hospice Volunteer

What does a Hospice Volunteer Do? 2 Roles.

• One who is directly involved with the patient and their family
• One who is indirectly involved with supporting and providing services to With Grace Hospice
• Both types are highly valued

How many hours per week?

• The average time is 1-4 hours per week

Why does Hospice use volunteers?

• Most hospices are paid through Medicare Benefits
• In order for Medicare payments to be paid, the federal Medicare laws mandates that hospices maintain a volunteer staff “to provide administrative or direct patient care in an amount that, at a minimum, equals 5 percent of the total patient care hours of all paid hospice employees and contract staff.”
• Volunteers are also great at building relationships and trust with the patients and their families and thus provide valuable feedback and deeper insights of the hospice care to the clinical team

Benefits of becoming a volunteer:

• Gaining a deeper knowledge of life, death, and bereavement
• Strengthening skills in compassion, caring and communication
• Being a valued member in a very specialized team
• Meeting new people and discovering new strengths

What does training look like for volunteers?

• Depends on the role of the volunteer
• Those who volunteer directly with the patients require more specialized training
• Those who work indirectly with hospice may have minimal training
• But both types of volunteers are vital to the hospice organization nonetheless
• Training is typically 14 hours spread out over time

Prerequisites May Include:

• Interview
• Background and Reference Checks
• Medical Review
• Mantoux Test for TB

* Done for your protection and to protect patients as well

Training May Include:

• Understanding Death and Dying
• Competency Checklist
•  Aromatherapy and Essential Oils
• 8 Hour Online Training to include: 

1. Bloodborne Pathogens
2. Cultural Diversity & Effective Communication, 
3. Everyday Ethics for Hospice and Palliative Professionals and Volunteers
4. Fire Safety
5. Fire Safety Evacuation Procedure Skills Checklist
6. Hand Hygiene: The Basics
7. HIPAA
8. Hospice 101
9. Infection Control
10. Webinar of the Ebola Virus
11. Additional Development Requests

If you are still interested in becoming a volunteer after reading the info above, please apply in the link below.

If you are not comfortable leaving your ssn and driver’s license, please call our office Manager, Eilleen Eucol at 408-444-5500 to verbally share.

APPLY HERE

If you recently lost a loved one, volunteers will need to have completed a bereavement period of at least one year before going out in the field.

Questions?

Call 408-444-5500