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Salus Hospice Volunteering

Thank you for your interest in volunteering with Salus Hospice. Volunteers serve an important role and enrich the lives of our patients by helping to provide a personalized hospice care experience. Volunteering is immensely rewarding, and with so many different opportunities available, there is a role perfectly suited for virtually anyone. Volunteers are the heart of hospice!

Apply to be a Volunteer

About Hospice Volunteering

Volunteers provide a unique type of support to hospice patients and help fill the gaps between loved ones and professional caregivers. Opportunities to connect with people and reminisce can sometimes feel limited for a patient in hospice care, but volunteers help remedy that by providing a listening ear and welcomed support through friendly visits, helpful services, compassionate engagement and by helping the patient maintain important ties to the community.

The more you volunteer, the more benefits you will personally experience including making new friends, finding meaningful ways to use beloved skills, connecting with people and feeling happier and healthier.

As Salus volunteer Nancy Johnson expresses it, “I do what I love and don’t regret a day of it. My experience is always rewarding, transformative and life-affirming. Knowing I’m making a difference in someone’s life, that I’m just there for them, it means so much and it’s just such a gratifying, loving experience.”

Read Nancy’s story to learn more about her experience volunteering.

Salus Hospice Volunteering

Volunteer Categories Include:

Honoring Veterans

Honoring Veterans

The vet-to-vet volunteer program pairs veteran volunteers with hospice patients who are veterans, empowering them to share a cultural bond of honor and trust. The role of the volunteer is to help dissolve barriers and honor the sacrifice and service of the hospice patient.

Paw Pals Dog Therapy

Paw Pals Dog Therapy

Paw Pals dog therapy volunteers and their pets visit hospice patients and their families in the home, board and care, or facility. This important volunteer opportunity provides a wide range of physical, emotional and social benefits that improve mood and enhance the hospice experience.

Vigil Volunteers

Vigil Volunteers

Vigil Volunteers provide a loving presence to hospice patients who are actively dying so no one dies alone and all patients maintain dignity at the end of life. Volunteers receive specialized training, learning how to provide support to patients and families as death approaches.

Threshold Choir

Threshold Choir

The Threshold Choir provides comfort and honor at the end of life. Groups of two to four singers visit patients bedside, using gentle voices and song to express kindness. The choir eases stress and anxiety so patients find peace throughout various stages of the hospice care experience.

Music Enrichment

Music Enrichment

Music enrichment volunteers use instrumental talents to sooth and comfort hospice patients by offering diversion, bringing back memories and encouraging a smile. This is an important form of emotional and sometimes spiritual support that enriches the hospice care experience.

Companion Visitor

Companion Visitor

Companion visitors help to relieve the burdens that family caregivers often face when caring for a loved one in hospice. They provide companionship, friendship and support to patients while family members step away as well as beneficial assistance with simply daily household chores.

Hairstyling with Heart

Hairstyling with Heart

Hairstylists empower patients and families, helping to change how they feel. Volunteers with a current cosmetology license provide a variety of hair styling services and makeovers to boost mood and self-confidence, elicit a smile and bring normalcy to the hospice care experience.

Massage Therapy

Massage Therapy

Massage therapists provide gentle massage to support hospice patients. This beneficial service not only relieves pain and discomfort, but it provides hospice patients with the opportunity to bond with their therapist and enjoy the many emotional, spiritual and health benefits of touch.

Administrative Volunteers

Administrative Volunteers

Administrative volunteers support our office staff by answering phones, filing paperwork and assisting with other clerical and administrative tasks. Their support helps us to maintain Joint Commission accreditation standards and provide the best care to patients and families.

Artisan Crafts

Artisan Crafts

Memory pillows and other artisan crafts offer families a tangible way to remember a loved one after a loss. Talented artisan volunteers handcraft these symbolic items with love and gift them to families to provide a permanent keepsake to cherish and hold near.

Internships

Internships

Uniquely rewarding hospice internship programs provide students with opportunities to increase their knowledge base and experience while working alongside seasoned hospice care professionals. Internships are approved by many universities and nursing school programs.

Frequently Asked Questions about being a Salus Hospice Volunteer

If you have any more questions, don’t hesitate to call our 24/7 hotline: (888) 725-8742

Salus Hospice welcomes veterans, seniors, adults and young adults as volunteers. In some capacities, mature teens are also appropriate for hospice volunteer opportunities.

To apply, simply fill out our volunteer form and select the volunteer role you are most interested in. Our volunteer coordinator will then contact you to provide more information, answer your questions and set up a time to meet in person. Once it is determined that you are a good fit for hospice and volunteering with us is the right fit for you, we’ll schedule a time for your orientation and training.

Volunteer training provides you with the information you need to feel comfortable in your volunteer role. You’ll receive information directly from our professional hospice care team members. While training can vary depending on your volunteer role, we typically cover: general information about Salus Hospice, information about the hospice care program, communication skills, roles of the hospice care team and hospice care volunteers, HIPAA compliance and patient confidentiality, safety and emergency protocols.

Salus Hospice appreciates any amount of time you are able to give. Some of our volunteers come in for a few hours a week, and others prefer to volunteer once a month or even on a more as-needed schedule. Just let us know how many hours you are able to give, and we’ll work to find the role and schedule that is best for you.

Salus Hospice offers many different volunteer roles because all of our patients have unique needs. Regardless of your background or skillset, we can likely find a role that you feel comfortable in and are well suited for.

Volunteers are not permitted to provide help with personal care needs, so you will never be asked to provide direct care to a patient (feeding, medicating, toileting, transferring, etc.). These services are typically a part of the patient’s care plan, and when that is the case, they are provided by our professional nurses or homecare workers.

What it's like to be a salus hospice worker

What it's like to be a salus hospice worker

Nancy’s Story

Nancy Johnson makes people look and feel good. With an eye for detail and a deep understanding of the value of confidence in your own appearance, she spends her time not with the young but with the young at heart, carefully trimming graphite locks of hair or applying a subtle shade of blush to translucent skin that is still soft to the touch. Her goal is to make people feel attractive in the end stage of life. Her volunteer role with Salus Hospice allows her to do just that.

Nancy has married her love for cutting hair with volunteering with hospice, and she never fails to answer the call when a patient asks for a haircut or makeover. “This is not about me, it’s about them,” Nancy says. “I don’t regret a day of it because I do what I love.”

Nancy so obviously is passionate about what she does and passionate about life. She has a knack for helping to make people feel good in the moment even while in hospice care. As a volunteer she is irreplaceable. Her goals are in sync with the team at Salus’ belief that every moment we have a chance to transform, celebrate and honor patients lives. We value her contributions. Nancy says she wouldn’t trade her experiences and has never regretted the role that she plays.

Apply to be a Volunteer

To become a volunteer with our hospice care program, fill out this form and select the role that you are most interested in. A Salus team member will then contact you to answer questions and provide more information.

Download Our Guide

This free guide shares more about our professional, integrated in home services.

Download Our Guide

Call Our 24/7 Hotline: (888) 725-8742

Call Our 24/7 Hotline: (888) 725-8742

Call Our 24/7 Hotline: (888) 725-8742

Call Our 24/7 Hotline: (888) 725-8742

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