Front Desk

One of my last volunteer shifts (shifts run at least 3 hours) I was asked to help out at the front "circulation" desk on the 3rd floor (which is the same floor I have been working on). Previously, I had done a lot with helping out in the nursery with restocking several items, making cribs, feeding and burping babies, etc. so I did not mind doing a little bit of clerical office work since they seemed like they really needed a lot of help catching up with certain things and I figured a little variety with my volunteer work wouldn't hurt. At the desk, there were two receptionists--both were very busy but one, Diane showed me that I was going to be preparing envelopes to mail. They had a lot of envelopes!! No wonder they needed a lot of help.. My job consisted of putting a letter in each envelope and making sure it sealed. At first it looked like I was going to have to lick a lot of envelopes, but they had a "envelope sticker" thing that kind of worked as a paste to close the envelope properly. I know this post isn't as interesting as the others, but I was glad I could help in any way I can in order to get things done. When Diane wasn't busy with people, she sat next to me and helped me with the envelopes. She was very grateful that I was able to help her and I was able to tell her all about the nursing program at UST and my interest in nursing. Diane was very interesting to talk to and I learned a lot from her about what it's like working at Ben Taub, so I'd say my volunteer shift for this day was pretty productive! Towards the end of my shift, I left the desk area and went inside the nursery to say hi to the nurses. The nurses I usually work with weren't even in the nursery, but I scrubbed in anyway so I could visit the babies. It was cold that day as well so I put hats on the babies that were in the nursery (as told by one of the nurses). One of the things volunteers can do in the hospital is to knit/crochet scarves, hats, etc. for the patients. This is something I am definitely interested in since I love making this sort of stuff! ---Overall, it was a pretty good day! :)