Page 15 - Annual Report 2016-17

IN THE TORONTO WESTERN CRITICAL CARE UNIT
Why did you decide to volunteer at
Toronto Western Hospital?
My grandmother was a wonderful
nurse and I saw strength in her and her
love for people inspired me to do
something more with my time and to
give back to the community.
How do you feel you have impacted the
TWH Critical Care Waiting Room?
I have been able to provide support to
staff members by helping visitors with
their needs, such as nding patients
and giving them information, thus
giving staff members more time to
focus on other duties. As the rst point
of contact for most family members, I
strive to be of service to them, offering reading and it made her smile. She told
them support with a smile to make their
visit less stressful.
How has your experience as a
volunteer in the TWH Critical Care
Waiting Room impacted you?
Helping others and being of service
gives me joy and it gives me many
opportunities to meet some wonderful
people and learn a lot about human
strength and love.
Volunteers at UHN commit to a
minimum of 6 months of
volunteering, but many stay on for
much longer. We were curious as
to the point of view of a new
volunteer versus one who may
have been doing the same role for
quite some time.
We interviewed two volunteers:
Marlene Colgrove, volunteering in
the CCU since 2010
Mihir Parmar, volunteering in the
CCU since 2016
MIHIR PARMAR 40 CCU
volunteers
gave
Would you like to share a particular 2,560
experience that really stands out in
your memory? hours
One Sunday, family members of a
patient were very anxious and nervous in 2016/17
about their daughter who was in
surgery. They requested I provide an The Guest Service
update every so often. I took the Ambassador
opportunity to comfort the mother and
grandmother of the patient while Program includes:
providing an update every half hour.
Just before my shift ended, I noti ed * Admitting & Registration
them that their daughter had been * Critical Care Unit Waiting
moved to another oor and was doing Room
okay. * Navigators
The mother had noticed the book I was * Post Anaesthetic Care
Unit
me it was written by one of her favorite * Pre-Operative Care Unit
authors and had not read the book I (POCU)
had. I decided to pass the book along to
her because from the book she can help Page 13
others smile and give hope when others
are in a similar situation. For me it was
one of the rst experiences where I
connected with others in the waiting
area very deeply and give a whole new
meaning to volunteering.