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Erin Rawlins - Volunteer Services at Riley Hospital for Children
My volunteer badge is pictured above. This is my artifact from my ELE.
Purpose:
I volunteered at Riley Hospital for Children. I work as a VIP admissions volunteer, which is where I round on floors. In order to get into each wing of the floor I have to scan in with my volunteer badge. This badge holds a lot of significance not only to me because it makes me feel so official, but also because it allows security and anyone else who needs help to identify me. The rooms I go to on each floor are specifically ED (emergency department) admissions from the night prior. I go into each room that is given to me and give them information on the Ronald Mcdonald House, Parking, and Child Life Zone. I also answer any questions they have, that I am capable of answering. I choose to volunteer at Riley because I knew getting experience in the healthcare/ hospital industry would be important to increasing my knowledge for my future career in healthcare administration. The volunteering has already increased my communication and leadership skills. Having this volunteer position at Riley will hopefully open a lot more opportunities for me to find internships or a job in the future.
Prior Experience:
Prior Experience:
At Riley Hospital for Children as a VIP Admissions volunteer, I have seen/made many connections between it and my out of classroom experiences, life experiences, and coursework. One of the first connections I made with my ELE and out of classroom experiences was being able to connect with some of my sorority sisters. A lot of them work or have clinicals at Riley Hospital and I can talk to them about the job that I do. I see if there are things that the volunteers need to improve on and what their thoughts are on the work we are doing to help them out. As far as connections with my personal life experiences my ELE work has opened my eyes to what “real” problems look like. For example, I can think that I am having the worst day ever and that my life is so “hard”, but then I go to my ELE and speak to all these families and children I came to realize the extent of their EVERYDAY struggles that don’t even compare to the reasons I believe make my day terrible. The connections I can make between my coursework and my ELE is that in my course work I am learning a lot about professionalism in the workplace, operations management, and policy. All these things I can connect back to my work at Riley, and while I am there, I am able to apply the things I have learned to my volunteering. My ELE at Riley Hospital is going to prepare me to have better communication with the person that I report back to, families of patients, patients, and nurses in my future career. It will also prepare me to have a better understanding of how communication works within a hospital and what being in a hospital working is like. It also taught me how to take good notes on people professionally and how to report and give constructive criticism back on certain situations.
Community Connections:
Community Connections:
In my ELE as VIP admissions volunteer, I worked with and served many different groups of people. This ranged from patients, nurses, patient's families, other volunteers, and many more. I would say the population I served and worked with the most were the children (usually the patient) and the patient's families. I was able to work with and serve these people in many different ways through the multiple different tasks I was given or, always willing to do for them. I was there to answer their questions, grab toiletries or toys for them to make their days easier, and even knowing how to properly approach them in a way they would receive well. As a VIP admissions volunteer, I never knew who I was going to encounter, so I had to stay open minded and ready for anything. I learned that different cultures/people express their grief in different ways. They also reacted to me as “just a volunteer” in different ways (since I was not a doctor). These interactions have influenced my beliefs and ways I interact with others. I now know when I enter a room and encounter a specific type of person or group of people that I need to consider how I should approach them in an appropriate manner. I learned to be less judgmental and more open-minded no matter how a person reacts to me. Some people have never experienced their child being in a hospital, some don’t know how to regulate their emotions, some are so used to their kid being in the hospital every week, etc.
New Skills/Lessons:
I have multiple experiences in my ELE that have taught me something new. One situation that sticks out to me most is we I had to explain something to a family that didn’t speak any English. While I was doing my informational rounds as a volunteer at Riley Childrens Hospital, I went into a patients room ready to give them all their new information. When I walked in and introduced myself, I could tell that they had a confused look on their faces. It came to my attention that they didn’t speak English. I hadn’t run into this issue before so I immediately panicked on the inside because I felt bad that I couldn’t communicate with them. I quickly reevaluated the situation and pulled out my phone for google translate. I was able to use this tool to communicate with them effectively and get all the information they needed, too them. The lesson I learned within this is that there is no need to panic when you think you can’t communicate with someone. All I had to do was reevaluate the situation and use the resources I had around me. I will be able to use this in the future because I know that this is not the only time in my life where I will encounter people who don’t understand me/can’t communicate back.
Me and another volunteer, who is not pictured helped this group of people get some volunteer hours by doing wagon cleaning.
Me and another volunteer, who is not pictured helped this group of people get some volunteer hours by doing wagon cleaning.
As a volunteer, I was able to meet Colts QB, Anthony Richardson.
As a volunteer, I was able to meet Colts QB, Anthony Richardson.
I walked around with Santa to say hi to patients and families around the hospital.
I walked around with Santa to say hi to patients and families around the hospital.
Impact:
Doing this ELE had a tremendously positive affect on me. This experience left me feeling like a stronger leader because of all the new skills I learned from it and confidence I built. The skills I learned/got better at are communication, problem solving, being able to read a room properly, and practicing empathy. This milestone in my life is something will help me become a better leader and manager in my future career, and I will be forever grateful for the impact it has made on me. I also feel like I left an impact on the people I served and worked for in my position. I believe that the people I served were impacted by my kindness, understanding, and willingness to help them (even if that meant me sitting in the room with their child for 5 minutes while they go grab a coffee). I also feel as though I impacted the two women I worked for. I was the first person to fill this position as a volunteer, and they put all their trust in me to give proper feedback and information. The experiences I had with patients and family when dealing with the grief and stress of having themselves or their child in the hospital is something that will forever impact me. I know look at my "hard" days in a different light because of what I have seen and experienced in my volunteering position.
Career Connections:
I'm planning to continue volunteering at Riley Hosptial for Children. As the person who held the first position in VIP admissions, I have been growing with the program. My supervisor has put so much faith and support into me and I have so many great ideas on how to expand the program. My supervisor has okayed me to write an informational sheet to place in the nurse's stations to give to families and patients who are in isolation room, and I can't access. My supervisor has also brought up to me many different internships and volunteer opportunities I could potentially take or look into when I am ready or want to try something new. This experience has connection to what I want to do in my future career in many different ways. I has given me the healthcare and hospital experience I was wanting along with so many new leadership and management confident skills. Based on the experience I had volunteering at Riley Hospital for Kids, I definitely plan on seeking new experiences. I hope that I will be able to get an internship I am passionate about or continue to grow and advance the VIP admission volunteer position. I am always ready to take on new adventures and experiences, especially if they will positively impact my future.
Summary:
My overall experience while volunteering with Riley Hospital for Kids was something I will never forget. I was able to meet so many new people, network, and make a difference. My main takeaway from my ELE is definitely all the new skills I learned and how I was able to apply them to make a difference in someone's day. Not only would I make a difference in these patients and family's lives, but what I have learned will also allow me to make a difference in so many more people's lives. As someone who is going into healthcare for management, my goal is to strive for success and while doing that positively impacting those I work with as well. My ELE and what I have learned throughout these two years in the JLN program will help me succeed with this goal.
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