Final Thoughts

In my experience this semester, I have learned that regardless of the little time one may have to devote to volunteering, I think it is essential and very valuable because there are many lessons that cannot be learned anywhere else but in that place where I volunteered at.

Having the opportunity to give time to patients is a priceless experience and I think it was very rewarding at the end because of all the things I have learned, the most important one is that I get to feel what patients are going through.  I get on their shoes and realize what they are going through and that is a very important point in being a volunteer.

CIS was not very helpful this semester, however I look forwards to going to a school so I can really experience the academia part of volunteering with kids.

Cheers,

Raul M

An unexpected event!

I visited the hospital and it was a special day because I wasn't expecting what happened at the nursing floor.  An elder patient was visited by his wife with a bunch of gifts and "get well" presents.  The story of this couple was that the wife had been sick before with some kidney problems and admitted to the hospital almost 4 years ago, and the the husband never left her side.  This time around, the husband was admitted to the hospital due to chest pain and, eventually had heart surgery.  When I talked to the lady, she said that her husband had always been by her side in every single situation she has been through, and now that he is very ill, he needs the prayers and the company.   The patient is still recovering from surgery and everything seems to be going great.  Out of all this story I learned one thing, and she said something like this, in regards to her husband, "forever is a long long time, but I would not mind spending it by his side".  What a great experience, it enlightened me and the rest of the nurses.  this will be remembered one day when that special one will always be my side regardless of anything.

Cheers,

Raul Medina

Post about Hospital volunteering

Memorial Hermann is a phenomenal hospital that provides patient care for any specialty.  This hospital is among the top 1% among the nation, this places us (Houston) in a great position for future healthcare providers to have an excellent experience as volunteers.  I go there every friday to expose myself to different clinical settings such as the CCU and ER units and the Operating Room.  I help patients get positioned for surgery, and as an EMT volunteer, I can provide a little more help to assistants and nurses in the ER such as assisting in starting IV lines, applying pressure to bleeding wounds and assisting with spanish-speaking only people to translate their needs to their nurses.

This will be my first week at my assigned site, Kennedy Elementary School.  However, it seems like the program will not begin until the week of March 5th due to some delays with the program's director.  I am very excited to work with these kids, which are almost all hispanic and come from different walks of life.

Introduction

Communities In Schools Houston is a campus-based Dropout Prevention program. CIS works with the school system on 96 campuses to provide direct social services to at-risk students and connect students with available community resources.

This is my first post of my blog about my communities in school experience for this semester.


Cheers,

Raul M.