Jun 10, 2006 01:11
Today, at one o'clock in the afternoon (twelve hours ago), I started the Junior Volunteer Orientation at Seton Downtown.
Like most largish presentations for an audience my age, they tried to make it 'hip' or 'fun' or whatever, hoping to sway the supposed five-milisecond attention span of the American teen. This time, they played Jeopardy with Hospital Trivia-- actually, the more or less obvious Junior Volunteer Protocol. The winners were supposed to get a suprise, which turned out to be candy. However, the lady giving the presentation sort of forced the winning Jeopardy team to share with the rest of the room.
We were quizzed over Safety, Fire Safety, Infection Control, Evacuation, and General Safety (true story). The answers to the Jeopardy questions were on a cheat sheet that they gave us.
I, along with the rest of my table, had decided that if they had just talked with us, and told it to us in a normal presentation, that it would have been much more enjoyable. I think that presenters get nervous 'broadcasting' in front of an audience so different than them in age and interest that they must make it cutesy and 100% entertaining. I mean, sure, I like to laugh or be entertained, but when recieving information on how and what I shoud be doing in a hospital as a volunteer with less responsibilities due to my age, I would like to be told all of the information that I need (they also gave us a packet, including all of the things gone over in the Jeopardy game, and also the HIPAA (or the patient privacy act) and that protocol that wasn't mentioned at all) and would like to feel like the other employees take what we're doing at least a tiny bit seriously.
We also got our shirts, which are sort of awkward navy collared polos with the Seton logo and 'Junior Volunteer' embroidered, orders to go out and buy kahki pants, and our name tags.
However, my volunteering will be with my friend Lisa Mink, who is a nurse on the Cardiac and Pulmonary floor (number three). I start next week and work a four hour shift.
I'm off to nightmares of getting in the way of a code blue*....
* cardiac or pulmonary arrest