- This Volunteers Day (5 December) Ms Rae explains how volunteers make a world of difference to the experience of a consumer's care.
- Margaret Rae often thought about who was going to do all the little things for her loved ones staying in hospital, after she'd gone home.
- Seeking a way to help others in future, an opportunity appeared when her friend's daughter suggested volunteering at Eastern Health.
When Margaret Rae finished a visit to her loved ones in hospital, she often thought about who was going to do all the little things for them, after she'd gone home.
Seeking a way to help others in future, an opportunity appeared when her friend's daughter suggested volunteering at Eastern Health.
"I'd finished teaching. I'd done all my grandmother things, looking after grandkids, and I was looking for something. The daughter of a friend of mine was an Occupational Therapist here, and she rang one day, and she said, I think I found your little niche. And once I came into volunteering on the Palliative Care ward, I thought this is where I want to be.
"It's been wonderful," Ms Rae said.
Ms Rae has been a volunteer on the Palliative Care ward for six years, making a positive impact on everyone she meets.
"Every day is different, because your main focus is on patients and families. So you never quite know when you arrive what you're coming into. Sometimes you might spend more time with one patient because they're distressed, but you also do little things like making sure that the patient can reach their glasses and do those actions that make them little bit more comfortable. And just chat, it's often just chat that people really look for," she said. One moment during her volunteering has profoundly affected her, highlighting how important her role is in making a significant difference during a consumer's time at Eastern Health. "We had a man who was at his end of life and his daughter was in a wheelchair. She came in to see him and he desperately wanted a hug from her. She couldn't get up from the wheelchair and I couldn't help her, so I went out and asked some of the nurses to come and help, and they maneuvered the bed in a way to make it possible. I was still there watching and seeing the two of them hugging, was so beautiful. While Ms Rae gives her time to aid those staying in the ward and look out for their loved ones, she undoubtedly gains so much more from every experience. "I can make a difference in somebody's life at a potentially tough time in their life. I come here and I feel like I've given that person some time and maybe cheered them up a little bit, it's a pretty good feeling. You feel valued, and you feel like you're doing something worthwhile. What you get back in return is very personal. It's not a physical thing," she explained. Ms Rae encourages anyone considering volunteering to take the leap of faith and "don't hesitate" to take a look at all the opportunities available to help out.
"Go online and look at all the opportunities, because it's not just palliative care. You can do patient transfer driving. You can go into rehab. Eastern Health have people who volunteer in all sorts of areas in hospital. It's such a lovely thing to do, and you meet an eclectic group of new people.
"We all look out for each other. If somebody's struggling, we just wrap our arms around each other. It's a lovely environment to be in," she said.
