Volunteer Services

• Clinic Volunteer
• Visiting Volunteer
• Volunteer Greeter
• Self-Image Volunteer
• Hospitality Cart Volunteer
• No One Dies Alone Volunteer
• How to Volunteer

Volunteer training update: There are currently no volunteer training sessions scheduled for July.

The next No One Dies Alone Training will take place in August.

Over 100 volunteers fill the important role of talking to and listening to outpatients attending the clinics, as well as working with inpatients admitted to the hospital.

Medical professionals have demanding schedules and are busy prescribing care; often they are not able to take extra time to visit with each patient.

This is where volunteers play an important role -- helping patients find locations and resources in the hospital and in the community, serving as liaisons with counselors and the medical staff, and listening to patients' concerns.

The volunteers are thoroughly trained in sessions offered several times a year. Each volunteer donates two to four hours per week.

Volunteers provide services in two locations: the Morris Cancer Clinic and Duke University Hospital.

Volunteers in the outpatient clinics provide conversation and comfort to patients and their family members, offer refreshments, relay useful information and resources, and direct patients to the wig room where they can try on wigs and turbans or to the Morris Lobby where they can sit and read or talk.

Volunteers visiting inpatients at Duke University Hospital lend an ear to those people who might live far from Durham and have no friends or family nearby. These volunteers are knowledgeable about support groups and can also provide information about community resources, so visiting family and friends can have time away from the hospital room.

Other volunteers take part in the No One Dies Alone program. This program is designed to serve patients who have no family present or family that needs extra support. Volunteers sit with, read to, play music for, and provide a comforting presence for patients in their final hours and days. No One Dies Alone volunteers go through intensive training before joining the program.

All volunteers receive training that covers the particular area in which they plan to serve. The workshops provide information on Duke University Health System resources, community resources, and various ways volunteers can help patients feel comfortable.

For information about becoming a Duke Cancer Patient Support Program volunteer, please contact Phillip Shoe, the DCPSP Volunteer Coordinator, at 919-684-3651 or by e-mail at CancerSupport@mc.duke.edu.

Volunteer Positions and Roles

Clinic Volunteer

Locations: Oncology Treatment Center and Surgical, Medical and Radiation Oncology Clinics

Responsibilities:

• Provide hospitality to patients and family members in outpatient clinics as they wait to see a physician to receive treatment
• Orient new patients to clinics
• Offer a listening ear
• Escort patients to tests, food court, and other hospital areas
• Serve refreshments
• Give information about hospital and community resources
• Make appropriate referrals to counselors and other resources

Time commitment: A minimum six-month commitment for all new volunteers. A four-hour shift, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. or 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., one day per week, Monday through Friday.

Visiting Volunteer

Location: Hospital inpatient cancer units, Duke University Hospital

Responsibilities:

• Provide hospitality to patients and family members in the inpatient cancer units
• Offer a listening ear
• Give information about hospital and community resources
• Make appropriate referrals to counselors and medical professionals

Time commitment: A minimum six-month commitment for all new volunteers. Two hours per week minimum, with days, evenings, and weekends available.

Volunteer Greeters

Location: Entrance to the Morris Cancer Building

Responsibilities:

• Provide hospitality to patients and family members in the outpatient cancer clinics
• Escort patients and families to the appropriate clinics
• Give information about hospital and community resources

Time commitment: A minimum six-month commitment for all new volunteers. Two hours per week minimum.

Self-Image Room Volunteers

Location: Morris Cancer Building / Hospital inpatient cancer units, Duke University Hospital

Responsibilities:

• Assist patients with self-image products, such as wigs, hats, turbans, etc.
• Give information about other self-image resources in the community and through the Duke Cancer Patient Support Program

Time commitment: A minimum six-month commitment for all new volunteers. Four hours per week minimum.

Hospitality Cart Volunteers

Location: Oncology Treatment Center and Surgical, Medical, and Radiation Oncology Clinics

Responsibilities:

• Visit each of the oncology clinics to provide patients and families a chance to purchase food while they are waiting
• Offer patients and families entertainment options while they are waiting, including books, crossword puzzles, etc.

Time commitment: A minimum six-month commitment for all new volunteers. Two hours per week minimum, Monday - Thursday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

No One Dies Alone

Location: Hospital inpatient cancer units, Duke University Hospital

Responsibilities:

• Provide a comforting presence to patients at the end of life
• Sit with, read to, and/or play music for patients

Time commitment: A minimum one year commitment for all new volunteers. This volunteer opportunity is on an as-needed basis. It also requires eight additional hours of training.

How to Become a Volunteer

Contact the DCPSP office to receive a volunteer application and a health review sheet.

Immunizations are required and are provided by DUMC for rubella (for all volunteers) and measles and mumps (for volunteers born after 1/1/57).

For a volunteer packet, please contact Phillip Shoe, volunteer coordinator, at 919-684-3651 or by e-mail at CancerSupport@mc.duke.edu. Submit the application and health review sheet and call the DCPSP office to arrange an interview.

Once you've been selected as a volunteer you'll need to:

• Complete TB testing (required).
• Complete Fire and Safety and Infection Control Training. Contact the DCPSP office for a schedule of training sessions.
• Complete the DCPSP training session.