Name: Debbie Stubbs
Age: 54 years old
Commencement: July 2015
Travels from: Samford
I predominately work in the Emergency Centre – topping up supplies, delivering results to the wards; providing refreshments to patients if they are allowed to eat and drink. At times patients need someone to talk to…if the staff are busy doing other duties I will spend time with patients who just need someone to listen. Generally do things to free up the nursing team so they don’t have to worry about whether there is paper in the printer or warm blankets for patients….
I also do a lunch time assist for patients – providing patients with a nice warm cloth to wash their hands and face before lunch. Once their lunch is delivered we check in on the patients to help them take lids off containers or cut up their food so it is easier for them to eat or help them make their tea or coffee.
If things are quiet in the Emergency Centre I go up to the Help Desk and assist visitors with directions on where to find places, doctors, reception or where to pay for parking and various general enquiries. I also assist other volunteers with other tasks such as binding manuals, getting patient folders ready for use.
I had left fulltime work to start my own consulting business and decided that I wanted to ‘give back’ to the community. As my business was only in its infancy I felt that I was now in control of how much time I wanted to invest in building my business and I wanted to make sure that I had time for other interests. I was at a Cancer Council fund-raising morning tea that a friend puts on every year and one of the guests had some brochures on volunteering at St Andrews so I thought I’d give it a go.
I’ve met many interesting people and have found the experience very rewarding in many ways. The patients are generally very grateful to have someone else to talk to, someone else to help them. The EC team are great – they are very appreciative of my assistance and how it helps them to focus on what they do best. The other volunteers….what can I say….they are awesome.