WARWICK – Barbara Fletcher has joined VNA of Care New England as the organization’s new hospice volunteer coordinator.
Fletcher will recruit and train hospice volunteers. She will also ensure that both the volunteer and hospice patients are benefiting from the experience. As a hospice volunteer coordinator, Fletcher will attend conferences with the VNA’s nursing, social work and chaplain staff to obtain volunteer referrals. She will also conduct monthly continuing-education trainings to ensure volunteers understand best practices. Fletcher will also pair volunteers with patients and follow up on the patient-volunteer relationship.
“My focus in this role is recruiting and training new volunteers,” said Fletcher. “When presented the opportunity, I was ecstatic to accept. The role allows me to combine my education and training background with my understanding of the complex needs of hospice patients and their caregivers.”
Fletcher began at VNA of Care New England in January as a hospice case manager before transitioning to the hospice volunteer coordinator in April. As a hospice case manager, she administered treatment to patients within the comfort of their home, developed care plans and worked with physicians to determine individualized care plans.
Her professional experience as a registered nurse includes serving as a nursing supervisor with the Rhode Island Blood Center, where she eventually moved to quality assurance and education specialist. She also dedicated seven years of her career to Providence College as the assistant director of nurses at the student health center.
“I look forward to working with volunteers who have an interest in making a difference in the life of someone who is dying, as well as the loved ones who they are leaving behind,” said Fletcher. “I’m dedicated to helping volunteers understand a patient’s unique needs, which can include companionship, a calming presence or reprieve for the caregiver.”
VNA of Care New England has a number of volunteer opportunities people can contribute to from home, in VNA of Care New England’s office in Warwick or with patients. The initial and ongoing trainings, provided by Fletcher, are an opportunity for continuing education for clinicians and to foster bonds with fellow volunteers.
Opportunities include:
- Phone a Friend – If you want to help hospice patients who are scared, lonely or need support, volunteer to call adult terminally ill patients. These calls are made from the VNA offices in Warwick and might include Skype chat or phone chat. Volunteers can offer community updates, local news, and general friendly conversation.
- Guardian Angel – Spend two hours at a time sitting with a dying patient who is living in a nursing home, so they don’t die without a person by their side. Guardian Angel volunteers provide a calming and peaceful presence during end of life at local nursing homes in the community.
- Critter Sitter – Help with pet care for a terminally ill patient. All pets will have updated vaccinations.
- Knight in Shining Armor – Visit hospice patients in their homes to provide in-person companionship and rest for their caregivers on Saturdays, Sundays or evenings.
- Coordination Crew – Work in the hospice office supporting the hospice volunteer coordinator.
- Creative Crafters – Opportunities exist to work directly with terminally ill patients and their family members to create legacy/memory books and to help children of terminally ill parents by providing a distraction from illness. Work from home and still contribute to the community by creating busy blankets for patients with dementia or knitting lap blankets for hospice patients.
- Journey Companion – General volunteers make visits to terminally ill patients during daytime or evening hours to provide one-on-one companionship, helping caregivers with light chores or staying with the patient, so the caregiver can get out of the home for enjoyment or errands. Responsibilities may also include clerical duties in the office, light cooking for patients or running errands for terminally ill patients.
For information on volunteering with VNA of Care New England, visit carenewengland.org/volunteer or call (401) 737-6050.
Rob Borkowski is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Borkowski@PBN.com.
