The Hospice Volunteer Coordinator
Hospice organizations are complex, with multiple levels of caregivers and managers. There are nurses, volunteers, social workers, CNAs, respiration specialists, wound care specialists, etc. All these people must be managed and coordinated. The volunteer coordinator directs the comfort care volunteers who, arguably, spend the most time with the patients outside of the patient's families. The person in this role also manages the critical 5% of all hospice hours that must be volunteer hours. The volunteer coordinator finds, trains, and supervises volunteers. Volunteer coordinators have challenging jobs; if they do well, the hospice organization meets major requirements for Medicare. But, if the volunteer coordinator dedicates themself to the highest levels of service, the results can be magical. Patients, families, and the whole Hospice organization benefit. I have had the pleasure of working with an excellent volunteer coordinator. I'll discuss what she does that distinguishes her from other coordinators I have met.
“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”
Hospice organizations have many roles, but one role that touches on various critical aspects of the organization and patient care is the Volunteer Coordinator. The volunteer coordinator is responsible for the following:
Recruitment of Volunteers
The volunteer coordinator has to be attracting new volunteers to the service continuously. There is a constant churn of volunteers for many reasons—some people who sign up figure out that this work is not for them. Most volunteers will eventually need a break from the emotional toll this work can take on a person. Volunteers go on vacation unexpectedly and engage in other life activities that may take precedence over volunteering. For these reasons and more, volunteer recruitment happens, year-round.
Screening Volunteer Applicants
Hospice work, especially with patients, is not for everyone. The coordinator needs to have a probing conversation with each applicant to assess whether to move forward with training. This discussion often involves explaining what a comfort care volunteer will encounter during their visits. In-office volunteers also must be made aware that people will discuss death freely in the office. The interviewer must tell applicants who cannot handle proximity to death, and severe illness, to look elsewhere for a different volunteer opportunity.
Coordinating Volunteer Training
Hospice volunteer training is extensive. It takes 12 to 24 hours to complete. This is at least as much training as a Certified Nurse Assistant receives. The volunteer coordinator must track the trainee's progress through the program and efficiently arrange for the in-person portion. In addition, there is a certain amount of volunteer retraining annually. The coordinator must organize the annual training so that all volunteers meet this requirement.
Tracking and Documenting Volunteer Hours
To qualify for Medicare, Hospice organizations must show that at least 5% of their nonmanagement work hours (patient interactions and office help) are through volunteers. Thus, it is highly critical that the hours are met, well-tracked, and documented. The success and viability of the Hospice organization hinge on this effort.
Explain the Volunteer Program to Patients
Patients need to be made aware of the volunteer program. Often, patients have to be encouraged to try out a volunteer. An exceptional volunteer coordinator will use this time to establish the patient's needs and points of interest that will help with volunteer/patient matching. (More on this below.)
Assigning Volunteers to Patients
The volunteer coordinator has to assign volunteers to patients. The process considers volunteer availability, patient availability, and the distance volunteers are willing to travel. A dedicated volunteer coordinator will match patients and volunteers based on interests, demeanor, and personality.
Assigning Volunteers Outside Usual Schedule
There are also special patient requests that fall outside of their regularly scheduled volunteer visits. There might be an occasion when a volunteer can not make their usual visit time with a patient. In these cases, the volunteer coordinator must scramble to find a volunteer to cover. There are times when the volunteer coordinator may have to do the visit.
Evaluating Volunteers
As with all members of an organization with high standards, volunteers must be evaluated and given feedback on what they are doing right and what they can improve. Evaluations usually happen annually. The volunteer coordinator is responsible for assessing all volunteers.
Extended hours on-call duties
There are times when the volunteer coordinator needs to arrange for after-hours coverage. In the case of a death vigil, the coordinator must find enough volunteers to sit with the patient and family around the clock. Hospice endeavors to have personnel present and available at the time of death. When these situations occur, they could be at any time. Death is not usually scheduled ahead of time.
Bereavement Counseling for Volunteers
When patients die, the volunteers will be affected. The closer they get to a patient and the more time they spend with them, the greater the chance that the volunteer with experience grief and need someone to talk to about it. The volunteer coordinator is the first person the volunteer can speak to about their loss experience. The coordinator can offer solace but must also be able to identify situations where they might need to refer the volunteer for professional bereavement counseling.
Above and Beyond
The responsibilities listed above make for a reasonably busy but very doable job. Most volunteer coordinators shoulder the above responsibilities well and get the job done. A select few go above and beyond to achieve something miraculous. The volunteer coordinator that goes above and beyond the basic tasks elevates this from a job to a mission. When one of these outstanding people coordinates Hospice volunteering, it dramatically enhances the volunteers' work and the service to patients and families. It is a joy to work for the former and truly revelatory to work for the latter.
I have had a couple of volunteer coordinators for my Hospice work and spoken with volunteers on other hospice services about their experiences with volunteer coordinators. I have learned that not all volunteer coordinators shoot for the stars. My conclusion is that when the volunteer coordinator is laser-focused on the patient and volunteer details, both experience a new level of sublime interaction. I am lucky enough to have an outstanding volunteer coordinator, and I hope to explain here what she does to make the experience rewarding for patients, families, and volunteers.
“Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”
My current volunteer coordinator, Teri, does a fantastic job with all the tasks on the list of volunteer coordinator responsibilities. But she also has a few other enhancements to those responsibilities that make a massive difference to the volunteers and patients.
First, when assigning a volunteer to a patient, many coordinators randomly assign volunteers to patients, only considering some schedule constraints. (I briefly had a coordinator who listed the patients' names with addresses in a spreadsheet and had the volunteers pick who they wanted. This impersonal approach was ineffective at optimizing the volunteer/patient relationship.)
Teri goes much further than the basic requirements of that job responsibility. She invests time and energy in the careful matching of volunteers to patients. When a volunteer signs up, Teri asks about their interests, hobbies, education, jobs, and the kind of people they like. After this discussion with the volunteer, she has a good idea of the kind of patient that should suit them, especially as a first patient. That's just one-half of the approach that she takes.
When a new patient signs up for Hospice, Teri takes the time to visit the patient and family caregivers personally. She explains the value of having a volunteer visit with the patient. Teri gets to know the patient and family and helps them assess how a volunteer would be most helpful. Finally, she acquires a sense of the patient's interests. From all this, she can match patients and volunteers much more effectively.
And all this attention to detail pays off. When Teri assigns me a patient, she explains why she chose the patient and why she sees me as a good match. She also gives me tips on approaching the first visit, and she familiarizes me with what she sees as the primary patient and family needs I can support. Finally, Teri tells me about the patient's interests so that I can plan activities and topics of conversation from the start.
All of this pays off. Every time Teri assigns me a patient, I walk into the first visit fully prepared and able to build rapport. I know a little about the patient, and they know a little about me. A bit of concrete knowledge makes the ice-breaking process a lot smoother. I am sure that much of my success with patients is down to Teri's groundwork in matching me up with people I will connect with quickly and on a deeper level.
The second area in which Teri excels is taking care of her volunteers. She is interested in how each volunteer is doing with their patients and demonstrates this by checking in regularly. Teri checks on the volunteer when a patient dies to see how they handle the loss. I find her concern in these situations incredibly healing and supportive. And because she has been checking in regularly, she knows how close I am to a patient; she knows how concerned about me to be when they die.
“I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world.”
Teri shows her care for volunteers in other ways. Whenever I have been ill and had to miss visits, Teri calls and sends a card to let me know she is thinking of my health and recovery.
Additionally, Teri's volunteers all receive thank you cards during the year. Whenever we talk, she always lets us, volunteers, know how much she appreciably us. Teri shows genuine gratitude multiple times throughout the year. Her sincerity is palpable.
There are lots of other ways that Teri elevates the patients and volunteers. I think the best way to sum up the difference that Teri brings to her job is to point out that this is not just a job for her. I believe that being a volunteer coordinator is a mission for Teri. It could just be a job with well-defined and very achievable tasks. But this is not Teri. By elevating the position to a mission, Teri serves the patients and volunteers in a way that results in inspirational fulfillment and superior connection.
As a testament to how well Teri does her job, when she left for another volunteer coordinator position at a different Hospice, several volunteers followed her to that new job. Even though it was a further drive for me, and I had to do a bunch of training from scratch, the move was well worth it. Support and superior patient connections are more important to me than avoiding a commute. I can't express how important that is. I know that Teri will be there to support me in my role. Teri's dedication to her mission enables other volunteers and me to approach our roles as a part of our own mission. And in this way, everyone is lifted.
“Mission is about people, not projects. ”
As you can see, the volunteer coordinators for Hospice have well-defined roles and responsibilities. It is a busy job that requires attention to detail and dedication. It still is possible to succeed by doing the tasks just as expected. But, if one approaches this job as a mission and puts in the extra effort like Teri, the lives of patients, family, and volunteers will be enriched beyond measure.
Thank you, Teri, for making this job a mission!
