Up until a few years ago I never thought that one of my grandparents would be in a nursing home. I had always been lucky to have them healthy. However, this changed about a year ago when my grandfather had a mini-stroke, which caused him to require extra care my grandmother could not provide. Watching my family deal with my grandfather made me aware of the care and services the elderly need and has made me realize how important it is to volunteer at a local nursing home. My grandfather's stroke affected his legs and his memory, which made it difficult for him to walk. My grandfather first used a cane, but his legs became too weak, so he tried a walker, but this lasted only a month. Not only could he not walk or take care of himself, but also he began to stay up at night and fall out of bed. My family started looking into nursing homes. It took us weeks before finally deciding. Unfortunately he will have to stay there until he improves, both mentally and physically. Since summer I have volunteered at his nursing home because I saw how lonely some of the residents were. I volunteered two days a week during the summer, which I have continued. I have learned many things about nursing homes and the factors to consider when choosing one, including the residents' quality of life, the care received, the environment surrounding them, and the nursing home's payment policy. I have been working with the recreation director, who plans activities for the residents. I have painted the women's nails and read them letters from their children. Also, I have helped with special days like Ice Cream Day, Summer Picnic Day, and Clown Around Day. For each we create special word scrambles. I also have taken patients for walks. We also have birthday parties and exercise days. Through my volunteering I have made a new friend - Irene. She has family, but they live faraway and cannot come to visit often. Our friendship grew through the summer. She grew up in Shelton and lived in Milford before she came to the home. She has two sons who seldom visit. Her grandchildren, however, do visit every weekend.
I will contribute to the mission of the Nurse Corps Scholarship program by continuing to provide care to individuals in underserved communities. Medically underserved communities involve racial minorities, offenders and ex-offenders, crime or abuse victims, LGBTQ citizens, people with AIDS, and those that are economically disadvantaged. I was born in the small town of Monroeville, AL. It is a great town but it does not have the best resources when it comes to health care. Most members of this town, including my family, would bypass the hospital there and go to the one in the next town simply because they feel
Another service that I have done has been to volunteer at the West Campus Hospital gift shop. It was a great experience for me; if I had the time I would make the effort to volunteer again. For people that is good at socializing with others and love organizing I would recommend volunteering at the gift shop.
I also walked with the Purplestride.org fund raising to end Cancer. I volunteered my free time cooking and feeding the homeless around San Diego with friends and classmates while attending San Diego Continuous Education Program. After completing my nursing degree, I am looking forward to the opportunity to reach out to the multitude in the underserved community.
I have done a lot of community service at Moundville Nursing Home from 2007-2014. I answered the phone and I sat with the sick patients. I helped in the kitchen and I would bring their supper to their rooms. I helped fed some of the patients because they couldn’t feed themselves. My favorite was when I volunteered for their Halloween festival. I also helped the nursing home with their trunk-a-treat on Halloween. I would go downtown with them and I would pass out candy to the sweet little kids. The whole Moundville community would come and enjoy themselves. I helped the nursing home with their Christmas parade. I helped decorate and pass out the Christmas gift. I did a great amount of community service at Jefferson Chapel CME Church. I would
The first time I started volunteering was last year and it changed my perspective towards a lot of things; from the way of looking at people to how my mind works. The impact it's had on my life has been immense and life changing. From there, I constantly tried getting myself involved in giving a hand and at the same time, to widen my knowledge.
Throughout the fall semester I did community service at a thrift shop and soup kitchen in Lawrence. There I experienced things I have never encountered before in my life. These experiences have taught me a lot, and have truly made me look at America's underprivileged, in a new light.
It all began when I started volunteering in Los Angeles, with my mother at Asian Pacific Health Care Clinic. Asian Pacific Health Care Clinic is a clinic for low-income families who were in need of vaccinations and other health care services. One day my mom received a phone call from the clinic and asked me to go volunteer with her. Since that day, I would have never guessed that it will impact my decision in pursuing my career as a nurse. I was assigned to help patients fill out vaccination forms, translate verbally, and assist the nurses who were in need of my help. I noticed the joy on each patient’s face once they were finished their vaccinations, and it made me happy to know I put a smile on people 's face after their vaccinations. Since that day, I have grown a passion for volunteering and helping others. Another factor that drew me to the nursing profession, was when I volunteered at a
I ambitiously decided that I would brighten the lives of the elderly by volunteering at a rest home, but discovered that the elderly were being neglected, shoved aside and forgotten. As I stepped into the home a pungent odor penetrated my nostrils, causing an instantaneous gagging reflex. The place was abounded with neglected and subdued inhabitants, yearning for attention. Anybody that passed them caused a sudden outburst of ranting. The negligence and disregard the home displayed appalled me, but helped me to realize that I wanted to make a difference and change the condition people live in.
In conclusion, I’m blessed. Whenever I am in need, I have willing friends and family to guide me the way. However, not everybody is as fortunate as I am. Backed up by with experience, I have observed seniors living lives I would never hope for. With a day of community service and $1,000, I can fix this. Surrounded by my closest friends and family, I’d make all seniors in our community feel respected, whether it is just small talk or a walk. To conclude, I have had fourteen of perhaps the best years anyone has ever endured. Seniors who have been on this earth for five times as long deserve to experience what I
Last Friday, on my first day of clinical, I had the opportunity to serve at Francis House. Normally the organization is open to serve the homeless, but a handful of students and I came on a day they were closed for a work day. We were able to help Francis House paint the inside of the building. We did not get to work with the homeless, however it was really nice to know the people that work there on a regular basis. We see how they put their whole hearts into their work in order to make a difference in the homeless community. It is even more exciting that USF is the first school to be a part of this organization. We were able to learn about what Francis House does and see what difference we will make as nursing students.
Every year my employer office volunteer services to several organizations such as Meals on Wheels in which is the site that I decided to volunteer at. Several of my co-workers and I, volunteered our services in helping to package and deliver meals for senior citizens. Meals on wheels association of America was founded by CEO Ellie Hollanderer, is the oldest and largest national organization that supports more than 5,000 community-based senior nutrition programs across the country. My experience as a volunteer at Meals on wheels was very enjoyable and will be remember able because, I was able to prepare hot healthy meals for senior citizens. Everybody either have or will have aging parents including myself. I hope that my experience
People’s lives are changed every day by their actions and experiences. This past summer, I participated in a community service project, an experience that opened my eyes in many ways. I was a volunteer at the County Memorial Hospital. In my time as a volunteer at the hospital, I was able to meet patients and staff members from all over the world and learn about their life experiences. Listening to all of their stories has made me truly appreciate everything which I have.
Helping others has always been something I’ve enjoyed doing. Ever since I was a child I enjoyed doing things for family members and friends. After graduating from high school, I have always gravitated towards jobs that allow me to help others. For example, I became a personal trainer because I loved being able to help people reach their fitness and health goals. Now, three years after graduating high school I have finally realized what I want to do career wise. A career as a LVN is the first step I hope to take towards my career in nursing. For some people, their desire to become a nurse is due to a member of their family being in this line of work.
Both my great grandmother and grandmother have visited their rehabilitation center. There they participated in hours a week of physical therapy. The respect and humility they have for their patients is very evident. While back home, I decided to give some of my time to the patients whose families could not or would not visit. In those three short hours, I was given a new perspective. The women and men there have such an appreciation for someone who is just willing to give 20 minutes out of their day to just listen and interact with them. The perspective I have is that they took care of us when we were younger now it is our turn to take care of them. The smiles they had on their face, just to have someone ask how they were and how their day has been just shows that we take for granite the families we have. The people living within Westminster towers have families but most do not take time out of their day to go visit them and check on them. I loved being that person that could make those people smile and make them feel as though they are still
I signed up to be volunteer for community service hours for my honors class. I choose this particular one because I thought it would be easy, but after few weeks, I felt honored for having been a part of it. I’ve never volunteered before, except for feeding the homeless with my church a few time. But this was a totally different experience. I chose to work with the Salvation Army and had no idea what I was in for. In my experiences with the Salvation Army I felt I succeed, and made a difference.