She is heavily involved as a volunteer in a local hospital auxiliary and equally heavily involved in her state auxiliary program. She does this after working 50 years as an RN. It keeps her active, provides social and cultural outlets, and she’s helped plan and implement some highly effective programs at the local level. Gloria’s parents both volunteered as members of the auxiliary at a local hospital as long as they were able. They also both benefitted from their volunteer time and filled a need that all hospitals now have.
In cost-cutting measures hospitals have long been eliminating clerical positions in surgical and other patient waiting rooms. Volunteers now fill those posts. Some have medical backgrounds but others don’t. I think that in many cases a volunteer can fill such a role, providing information about patient’s disposition after a procedure equally as well as can medically trained staff. But there are some instances where patients’ families and the entire waiting area would be better served by having medical personnel and perhaps even a security guard on duty.
When I was young hospitals were staffed and run differently. Visiting hours were strictly enforced, as were the number of visitors allowed into a patient room. Children younger than 12 years of age were not allowed in patient rooms. When visiting hours were over visitors were expected to leave the premises. Getting into a hospital after hours was just not done unless one’s family was well connected in that locale. Even then, limits applied as to numbers of people allowed.
Today’s waiting rooms are vastly different. I’ve seen extended families arrive at ICU waiting rooms and set up pot-luck meals. I’ve seen children in diapers and little else placed on the floor to play. I would not care to place my hands on a waiting room carpet and then lick them. But infants are allowed to do so. It is as if, for a large portion of the populace, germ theory does not exist. Extended families can become highly problematic. They may contain individuals or groups feuding with others in the family who are all too willing to settle the grievance right there. They may be composed of people who have no mechanism for coping with the illness or injury of a family member and who may not understand the reasons their family member is there. There may be unexpected meetings of families and non-familial very close friends. The situation is often tragic, often unhappy, and too often, best served by removing everyone but the immediate next of kin from the waiting area.
While managing a rural hospital lab I was on call one Wednesday night when a carload of high school aged people raced a train for an unmarked crossing. It was, as one could expect, a horrid situation. Three were DOA at the ER, two more still alive, but barely. One of the barely alive was a 17 year old 8.5 months pregnant. It was fortunate that the medical staff was meeting that night. Every doctor in town was there, including both surgeons.
Once we got baselines for the lab to run, the major need that night was for packed RBCs and Fresh-Frozen Plasma (FFP) to maintain circulation. Small hospitals rarely have much blood on hand. They are not expected to perform major surgeries that require such amounts. We rapidly ran through what we had that was of the correct ABO/Rh group and type and I began getting all available blood from other regional hospitals plus what I could get from the regional center. We had no way to transport it except relays of Highway Patrolmen. Since the need was so major and the situation so grave we suspended the cross match requirement and went with ABO group specific blood. I kept the records of who got what units and made sure that only I transferred blood to the ER.
To make matters worse, while waiting on blood to arrive, the 17 year old went into labor.
As it was Wednesday night, the local church that two or three of the victims attended moved their church service, en-masse, to the hospital. Though only family should have been allowed in, the entire mob set up a prayer meeting in the corridor between the lab and the ER. Every time I tried to get from lab to ER or vice-versa, the group’s preacher wanted to pump me for information. Finally I suggested that they would be more helpful if they went outside, and out of my traffic pattern, to pray. I was reprimanded the next morning. There were no survivors.
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