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A he/re here. And this time, if s personal. Whether in orthopedics, the emergency room, the nursery or pediatrics, Personal Touch volunteers are offering their time and skills to both patients and nurses at Baptist Medical Center. Volunteers' tasks include talking with patients, helping distribute and collect meal trays, assisting / / with natiant. discharge and $ I J JTJ11M feV?l I i J PERSONAL Students give * asst. features editor KRISTIN FREESTATE m 0 according to marketing/re- As a volunteer, I cniitment coordinator Kristi for the people if t! Davis, providing "hands-on thing, whether th patient care that normally patiei a family member would or could do." r According to Davis, the ? itprogram was established in Persona Touc 1990 under the supervision of director Eleanor Whitehead "because of a need voiced by patients and staff to fill a void that 0 was growing" between patients and nurses. Volunteers from high-school age to retirees have helped fill this void by performing what Davis described as more "nonmedical tasks," thereby allowing the nurses to attend to the "more technical tasks." And although the minimum age for volunteering is 16, Davis said, "The volunteers come from all different walks of life and all different aces. There's no generalities about them. They're all different." Junior Kelly Maberry, who volunteers in the 0 pediatrics unit and joined the program because she hopes to become a pediatrician, noticed these differences immediately. "What surprised me was at training," she said. I was expecting a whole group of premed students, but they weren't," Maberry said. Potential volunteers are initially accepted or turned down from the program based on an application, two references and an interview. Those who are accepted must attend a two-and1 MMHfPMIIPI aN/ce / i # V Cafe* I Ride the C HAPPY BUS! / \ to College Night C / every Tuesday \ ^-^allfor Pick Ups! I PER50NNEL time, service a-half day training session that includes completing a personality test, listening to speakers about subjects such as communication and coping wit^i grief, learning massage therapy and becoming oriented with the hospital and patient rooms. After the training session, eligible volunteers undergo the final cut for the program. Those accepted undergo bloodwork and various tests and are assigned to a specific unit. Volunteers must work try to be there for a minimum of one fourhey need some- hour shift per week and auiey're nurses or tomatically commit to one its. year of service. In placing volunteers, orley, Davis said, "the aim is to :h Volunteer serve as many patient care areas as we can and to fill A every shift that needs to be 7 / filled with volunteers." Registered nurse Rossie Bowen seems to appreciate the work of the Personal Touch volunteers. "The patients really seem to like the Personal Touch volunteers, so normally, I think they have a positive effect," she said. I think the family appreciates getting the extra attention." However, nurses and natients are not the only ones who get something from the program. Most of the volunteers believe they have benefitted as well, Davis said. She said she finds a personal reward in "seeing satisfaction on volunteers' faces." Maberry finds satisfaction in easing the patients' stay. "I am there to help the patients feel more comfortable in the hospital," she said. "I'm supposed to try to make it a better experience for them." Regardless of whether Maberry and the others succeed in giving patients a better" experience, the fact remains that working at a hospital is not always a happy experience. k (V 910 ) Of Service Industi ?8 /\ ^ Pyards of beer! $4 1st $2 refills, Sundays only J/ 'Vl?l?l I 70*s rhe Time fi All All 1 1 ? I I I IF YOU ARE UNOEB THE AGE OF 21 IT IS AGAINST Tti IMIIP . W?* .vi..- mm ^1 i I %? * llMBjp R.}' -.A " - ^ ::'A. H^p Junior Kelly Maberry straightens The Outback Baptist Medical Center. Maberry, a Personal 1 pediatrics "mostly because it's kids" and to gs the medical field. arFVinra'a a lnf nf rrnn^ f Vt of rrnno on Vmf fViona aiivi vo uiuiui gwu taut guvo ua, uut tavi w are a lot of sad things that happen here at the di hospital as well," Davis said. gr ^9^ tyNfehr/ er jj |HH STARTS FR1 ? r *'.* ' :"., ... ; / ."? ; "' ; *: ' -' : 1 KRISTIN FREESTATE The Gamecock , the playroom on the pediatrics unit at rouch volunteer, chose to work in the iin experience for her future career in Volunteer Brian Corley, a junior,- said it is fficult at times to know how to react in a /en situation. The most challenging thing, he Sh.:-: v.'1.', -'.'V. 3 ?? -; fe* i - DAY JANUARY 30 IN TP *' C "... vl^ jg? '%|. ;vp..*?5> <v *<V'': :j m^mmM 3aid, "is to be helpful and comforting at the same time." And while Maberry admits her favorite part of the job is "holding babies," she said, "I think it's reallv sad to have anvone in the hospital. let alone a small child. So anything I can do to make it better for the children is rewarding." Corley agreed. "As a volunteer, I try to be there for the people if they need something, whether they're nurses or patients," he said. "The good thing is bringing a smile tp the face of a patient." OOPS! 1 We made a mistake! Rnh I inrkpv's revipur nf Snir.t* ? ~ ""j " ? ?r*"World should have included a rating of one star. il3fM 1EATRES EVERYWHERE Jt