Why Do I Come to My Shift When There is Only One Patient Eating?

We really appreciate your support and we understand that you maybe surprised to be attending your shift when there is only one patient eating.  For a morning shift this will be to help cook with necessary preparations (ie, stocking the freezer, catering, cleaning).  For an afternoon shift there are many things that the nurses do which takes two people, hence the IPU staff cannot do the other things covered by the volunteer.  These include:

A) Medication - many of medications need both nurses to distribute.

B) Personal Cares - many of these require two nurses

C) There are up to 250 patients receiving Hospice Services at any one time.  Family members and health professionals frequently contact the Hospice for advice and support.  It is the registered nurse on duty's responsibility to take these calls.  Each call can take 30mins+ (including call time, checking notes, updating notes, subsequent phone calls and follow-up phone calls).  This leaves one nurse to tend to the patients.

So it may not seem you are doing much, if you are just preparing one meal, however you are supporting all of the work listed above.  Thank you.