After volunteering at the hospital with the Hospital Elder Life Program, I was amazed with the thorough and thought-out program the hospital created. My knowledge of delirium and preventative factors has changed because I now realized the importance of the HELP program. The preventative factors are small details that anyone that works in the hospital can do to help reduce the patients risk of delirium. Through asking the patients their background history, how they have been sleeping, and other risk factors, the volunteer is able to inform the staff of the patient’s risk of delirium. I am grateful for this experience because it was a very well-rounded volunteer involvement, and it also gave me an opportunity to learn something knew that I plan to incorporate into my future nursing care.
The most meaningful aspect of my volunteer experience was interacting with the patients and understanding that the volunteer work was truly helping the individual. Oftentimes the patients were extremely grateful of someone coming to speak with them. I learned many interesting and amazing things from the stories the patients told me. I enjoyed the experience because I was able to spend time with multiple patients and allow them to freely discuss anything they wanted.
The learning goals I created before my shift volunteer shift were met through my three shifts. I plan to integrate this knowledge moving forward by incorporating it into my assessments. I feel as though I am very aware of the preventative measures to decrease the risk of delirium and plan to implement that with the care of my patients. Again, I am thankful for this experience to fully understand the importance of decreasing delirium through preventive measures.
I am so pleased you were able to meet your learning goals.