Hospice Volunteers Can Do … Just About Anything!

As a hospice volunteer, you will have choices as to how much and what the types of things you want to do. Some examples of typical volunteer duties are:

• Listening to a patient’s concerns.
• Being a comforting and supportive presence.
• Engaging in the patient’s hobbies, for example, playing a board game or discussing current events.
• Communicating with other hospice staff needs and concerns of the hospice patient or family.
• Running errands or doing light housekeeping for the patient and family.
• Encouraging the patient to tell their life story.
• Transporting a patient to physician visits or shopping.
• Provide assistance with personal care, such as bathing or transferring from a bed to a chair, if the volunteer has been properly trained to do so.
• Providing time for the caregiver to take care of her/him self.
• Provide administrative support with data entry, mailings and photocopying.
• Assist in fundraising activities and coordination of support services.

Hospice Needs Volunteers

Volunteers provide important services to our hospice organization and the people we serve. Whether providing companionship to a person in the final months and weeks of life, offering support to family members and caregivers, or helping with community outreach and fundraising, the contributions of volunteers are essential to the important work provided by our hospice program. We rely on volunteer support to provide excellent end-of-life care to each patient and family. By being a hospice volunteer, you can gain great personal satisfaction from knowing that you have made an impact in the life of another person.

Hospice Trains Volunteers

All volunteers receive training to ensure they feel comfortable with their tasks. Training programs vary in length and generally cover the following areas:

• Philosophy of hospice care.
• A comprehensive overview of services offered by hospice.
• Physical, emotional, social and spiritual issues that people can encounter at the end of life.
• Individual needs, including emotional support and emergency procedures
• An overview of chronic and life-limiting illnesses.
• Effective communication skills when speaking with the patient and family members.
• Information about interpersonal family issues and relationships.
• Boundaries for the hospice volunteer and the patient and family.
• Basic information about grief and loss.

Become a Hospice Volunteer!

To become a hospice volunteer, you must be at least 18 years of age, complete an application form and provide a current resume and references. To begin, you may download the application on this page. You will then need to set up an initial interview with our Volunteer Coordinator by calling 575-258-0028. A background check, drug screening and TB test is required.

During the initial interview, you may be asked the following questions:

• Why do you want to become a hospice volunteer?
• What times are you available during the day to volunteer?
• Do you have any experiences that you may have had caring for family members or friend at the end of life?

After you complete the required training, you will be ready for your work as a hospice volunteer to begin!

Hospice Volunteer Application Form

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