Adult Volunteer Program
After completing the online application, the prospective volunteer will learn about the St. Francis Hospital mission, core values, customer service program, volunteer opportunities offered at each site, and the training requirements needed before their volunteer service can begin.
Prospective volunteers will have the opportunity to review all position descriptions that appeal to them. On-the-job training will be provided when the volunteer receives his/her volunteer assignment.
Teen Volunteer Program
We are currently not taking applications at this time, please check back for updates.
No One Dies Alone Program
No One Dies Alone (NODA) is a national volunteer-centered program started by Sandra Clarke, CCRN, at PeaceHealth (Eugene, OR) in 2001. Its goal is to provide companionship and support for dying individuals so that no patient dies alone. The program is now a model for compassionate end-of-life programs in hospitals across the country. The program began at St. Francis Hospital in July 2000 and strives to provide compassionate companionship to the dying who have no family or friends to be with them in their last days, to ensure that they do not die alone.
No One Dies Alone trains hospital associates and volunteers to become compassionate companions who offer end-of-life presence and support to patients who are near the end of life and who have no family or friends at their bedside. Trained volunteers provide 24-hour availability to dying patients who do not wish to be alone. During the vigil, companions may hold the hand of the patient, play soothing music, read to the patient and assist in other comfort care measures. They serve patients in shifts, sitting at the bedside until the patient's death or a family member arrives.
The heart of this work is about being rather than doing, about compassionate presence and heartfelt intention rather than fixing, solving, answering, or resolving issues for others. To be a calming presence and truly compassionate with another requires no small amount of personal and spiritual maturity, as well as a capacity for reflection on the volunteer’s life.
No One Dies Alone volunteers receive orientation and training that is more process-oriented with an appropriate amount of content and protocol to provide a framework for the volunteer to be successful. All No One Dies Alone volunteers must be either a St. Francis Hospital associate or a volunteer through St. Francis Hospital Volunteer Services and have been volunteering for at least three months. No One Dies Alone gives associates the opportunity to provide comfort care to patients outside of their regular work day. St. Francis Hospital associates must register with Volunteer Services, complete a No One Dies Alone application, be interviewed and be accepted as a No One Dies Alone volunteer, and complete the No One Dies Alone training prior to beginning to sit vigils.
Competencies
- Works cooperatively with others as well as independently
- Follows organization's confidentiality and infection control guidelines
- Respects a patient’s spiritual beliefs
- Understands and follows directions
- Demonstrates compassion
- Demonstrates an ability to be a calming presence, and use silence well
- Demonstrates emotional availability
- Demonstrates appropriate personal and professional boundaries
- Demonstrates sensitivity to end-of-life issues