Caregiving: Part Four

Many people choose to volunteer as a way of giving something back to their community. Helping others through volunteering is a good thing for all of us. It can build your resilience as well as providing needed manpower in such places as food banks and nursing homes. But it can also take a toll on the caregiver.

In this blog as in previous ones, we are going to present a challenge from the serious game, Bounce Back. The task of the participants in the game is to identify the skills and the attitudes of resilience that they would use in managing the challenge presented. We would like for you to describe these skills and the way in which they would be applied.

Here's the challenge: you've been a volunteer at the local nursing home for many years. The new patient is legally blind, confused, and came with a collection of classic books. He asked for his books, then hurled them at the staff. You offered to read the books to him and are told the staff doesn't have time to read and if you begin reading to him, he will expect the staff to do the same. You are told, "Leave it alone and allow them to accept his limitations and adjust to his new environment."

Some of the challenges in being a volunteer are not just dealing with the patients or clients of the organization you are serving, but dealing with the staff.

So before you go storming off to talk with the director of the nursing home, take a deep breath. Calm down. Recognize the feelings that you have and think through how you want to deal with them. You will be more effective if you do this.

Connect with others. Communicate with others. Talk with other volunteers about how they might deal with the situation. If the facility has a volunteer coordinator talk. with him or her about the situation before you talk with the staff on the unit or make any commitments to the patient

Try to see the bigger picture. Most nursing homes are understaffed. Most do not have the time, unfortunately, to deal with the psychological needs of patients since they spend so much of their time dealing with the physical needs.

Problem solved. Is there another way to approach the situation? A compromise that will work for all concerned? Be creative.

And think about your purpose of being at the facility. Why are you volunteering? This work needs to be meaningful for you as well as for the patients and the staff you work with.

You may have come up with other ideas through talking with your family, friends and other volunteers. Good. Every situation and every person is different.