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Volunteer's life was changed by tragic death of co-worker
June 2010 Enterprise article by Mary Odbert
Cher Pearson wasn’t surprised to learn she had an aptitude for mathematics. As a result she worked for 20 years in accounting, until attending a hospice volunteer training completely altered her life’s path.
“I was good at accounting and people gave me strokes for my work,” said Cher.
One Wednesday in November, Cher learned that a co-worker had suffered a brain aneurism and was in the hospital. Cher had just sat next to him in a meeting the day before. Now the hospital was waiting for his family before taking him off of life support.
“A colleague and I stayed with him all day in the hospital. I wanted to be with him. He had nobody else in town, his family was 3,000 miles away,” said Cher.
The next day she went back to work, but she had been profoundly changed. “Scott was near my age. It could have been me. I did not want to die having done nothing. I needed to feel like I was contributing to the world,” said Cher.
Cher started volunteering, which included completing a hospice volunteer training course. Volunteering can be a hobby, community service, vocation, or experience for a resume. Some people generously dedicate much of their lives to volunteer service. The people who volunteer are as diverse as their motivations. For Cher, it was about making a difference by doing something valuable for those around her – for the world. It turned out to be incredibly valuable for her personally too.
“That hospice volunteer training was the most awesome, insightful, phenomenal training for me,” said Cher. “I can’t tell you how much it impacted my life.”
Trained Patient Care Volunteers are a vital part of the Yolo Hospice team that devotes support, help, and companionship to patients and their families. All Patient Care Volunteers go through a training course to prepare them for working with patients, their caregivers, families and loved ones. The companionship that Patient Care Volunteers provide can include reading to the patient, writing letters, running errands and providing respite care to the patient’s loved ones and primary caregivers needing a break.
A significant part of a volunteer's effort is simply befriending the patient and family. The relationship that develops is determined by the variety of support services needed, which are different for every patient’s situation.
“I recommend hospice volunteer training to anyone interested in self-exploration,” said Cher. “Even if you don’t become a volunteer, it is an opportunity for introspection, to learn about yourself and grow.”
For Cher, the training was all those things. In addition, she was deeply inspired by the talk given by a hospice nurse during the training course. Cher said her experience was like being a kid again and thinking, “I want to be her when I grow up.” Cher converted inspiration into action.
When she was laid off by her employer, instead of seeking another job in accounting, Cher enrolled in nursing school. While a student, she worked in a hospital, which was not what she expected. Running from room to room, Cher did not get enough time with each of her patients. One day she walked into the room of woman who had just been told she was terminal. Cher sat down on the bed and stayed with the patient while she grieved. Cher felt like she had made a difference that day.
Her one day in volunteer training with a hospice nurse confirmed what she already knew in her heart -- she wanted to be a hospice nurse. From nursing school, Cher came straight to Yolo Hospice and has been caring for our patients and their loved ones with time, heart and skill ever since.
The next regional hospice volunteer training will be sponsored by Yolo Hospice and held in Davis.It will be held Fridays and Saturdays July 16, 17, 30 and 31 from 9:00 A.M. – 4:00 P.M. For more information or to sign up, please visit the Yolo Hospice website at www.yolohospice.org or call Nancy Bodily, Yolo Hospice Volunteer Manager at (530) 758-5566.
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"I've worked for 20+ years in cardiovascular and oncology nursing, most recently working as a nurse coordinator in cardiovascular research. My work with Yolo Hospice has enabled me to focus all of my acute clinical experiences into caring for patients, and their loved ones, during a most challenging period of their lives." ~Ted Skiera, RN |
