Celebrating Courage and Compassion: Managing Volunteers That Work Among the Sick and Dying
Susan Moscareillo, CVM
Editor, ManagingVolunteers.com
June 1st, 2004

It takes a unique person to volunteer among the sick and the dying.

This unique person is able to look beyond the wheelchair, the braces on the legs or the scars from the surgeries and see a human being.

These volunteers have different motivations. Some have lost a loved one and bring a compassionate understanding to their volunteering. Some have loved ones who survived a life-threatening illness and “want to give back” to others in similar situations. Some believe, as my own father did, that we are “put on this earth to help each other.”

It takes a lot of courage to walk in the front door of an agency whose clients are ill or dying. As you sit at your desk and do your paper work, don’t ever forget that.

Volunteering in this environment is not something that everyone can -- or wants -- to do. I fell in love at first sight with our House and its atmosphere of what my executive director describes as “hope, laughter, strength and courage” but after watching my father suffer through a sixteen month terminal illness, my reaction could have been the opposite. Sincere people have arrived at our House to volunteer and don’t return after their first visit. Seeing a visibly sick child was overwhelming for them.

It’s important to screen and interview these potential volunteers carefully. Some potential volunteers want to begin volunteering too soon after experiencing a loss and are still emotionally fragile. They haven’t healed sufficiently and are rushing to fill a void in their life. Listen carefully to their answers when you interview them and their references. Sometimes these potential volunteers need to be gently told that there are no openings that match their skills and schedules but to please call again in a year or so.

For all potential volunteers, probe thoroughly but tactfully about their motives for serving your agency and watch their reaction as you give them a tour so they may see what you really do.

Adapt your training for your new volunteers to recognize the special skills this environment requires and include components that address compassionate communication and an understanding of the stages of grief and mourning. Help them be as comfortable as possible in your agency’s environment -- an environment where the right words may not always come easily and sometimes clients die.

Once they have begun their assignments, be sensitive to helping your volunteers avoid burn-out and work hard at nurturing them. Burn out takes many forms, from emotional detachment to exhaustion to a sense of low personal accomplishment. In its most extreme form volunteers leave a voice mail for you at 10 p.m. to announce their resignation.

Please don’t let it go this far. You cannot take responsibility for your volunteer’s personal emotional health, but you can help protect it while they are volunteering with you.

New volunteers are often so enthusiastic about your mission that they want to volunteer for multiple assignments and it is tempting to hand off too much work too soon to them. Give them one assignment, monitor their time on site (and amount of client contact) and in time increase their volunteer time if appropriate and beneficial for them and your agency.

Nurture them in the grand scheme of things. Sustain a positive atmosphere as you do your job and portray the results volunteers are achieving. You are there to help them do the best job possible and feel good about it.

Nurture them as individuals. Listen when they share with you so when their birthday comes along you’ll have a card or gift that reflects their interests. Remember their volunteer anniversary with a card or note that acknowledges an accomplishment you have observed.

Nurture them as a group with teas, ice cream socials, an annual dinner so they can meet each other and see their collective good work. Their belief in your agency’s mission gives them a lot in common and many of my volunteers from diverse backgrounds have met and developed friendships.

If you are observing the beginnings of burn-out or the sudden on-set of a full-blown case, talk to the volunteer and offer a sabbatical. If accepted, discuss the length and set a return date. Follow up with notes or phone calls to assess the situation. Ask for feedback to see if anything else could help the volunteer, such as re-assignment to a new position.

Most importantly, give your volunteers individual time when something bad happens. If they want to talk, listen. If a client dies or goes home to die, recognize the impact on your volunteer. No one is comfortable talking about death, and a loss may warrant more than one discussion between you and your volunteer. Without a doubt, this is the most difficult part of your job. Acknowledge the loss your volunteer has experienced, while affirming the positive contribution they made to the life of the client.

One last note: remember to nurture yourself too and beware of burn-out. You have chosen an especially difficult job to go to every day and cannot direct your staff unless you are taking good care of yourself.

You have also chosen an immensely rewarding job and manage a staff of exceptional people. You and your volunteers know what Francis Bacon wrote: “In the theatre of life, only God and angels are allowed to be onlookers.”