Evaluation of a hospital volunteer program in rural Australia

Abstract

A voluntary survey questionnaire that assessed experience with and perception of the volunteering program was mailed to 62 current and 9 former volunteers and 47 staff members of Latrobe Regional Hospital (LRH). Sixty-one completed questionnaires were returned. The nature of hospital work attracted volunteers (57%) and most volunteers felt oriented to the hospital, supervised and supported. The volunteers enjoyed working with patients and felt they contributed to better services and staff and patient support. There was a need felt that more training and development, recognition, orientation and supervision would be beneficial. Overall, most volunteers rated their experience as good (60%) to excellent (25%). Staff rated the contribution from volunteers as good (41%) to excellent (47%). Volunteers identified several areas of improvement, including opportunities for further training and supervision. Volunteers play a crucial role within the health care system. There is tremendous scope for further development of the volunteer role and increasing opportunities for training and development, recognition and encouragement.

Rural nurses’ perceptions of a volunteer program in an acute setting: Volunteers delivering person-centred care for patients with dementia and delirium

“…It is predicted that the need for volunteers, especially in rural areas in Australia will continue to grow [13], and further that hospital administrators need to recognise this rich resource. Like this study, previous studies have found that the utilisation of volunteers has a positive im-pact on patient quality of care and staff time management [13].…”

“…Volunteers are defined as people who perform an activity in which time is given freely to benefit another person, cause or group [12]. While there are over six million volunteers in Australia, a past survey found that only 12% of these were in the health sector [13]. Given the decreasing resources in the health sector, volunteers are increasingly being utilised to play a crucial role.…”

“…Given the decreasing resources in the health sector, volunteers are increasingly being utilised to play a crucial role. In addition, it has been identified that there is tremendous scope for further development of the volunteer role, including training and development [13]. There is also evidence of individual benefit for volunteers engaged in meaningful activity that benefits a vulnerable population [14,15].…”