Summer 2025 Volunteer Opportunities

Patient Experience / Various Units

Volunteers provide support services, of a non-clinical nature, to nursing unit staff to enhance patient care. Volunteers assist with answering call lights, rounding on patients seeing if they had any questions, needs or want a companion to talk to, reviewing welcome packet/patient guide including how to use the phone/TV/call light, etc., reading, writing letters, playing games and assisting with phone calls.

Pets at Duke (PAD) Facilitator

The PAD Facilitator Volunteer plays a vital role in enhancing our pet therapy sessions. This volunteer will accompany the handler and dog team, assisting with the setup, facilitation, and breakdown of each session. Your involvement will help create a welcoming and supportive environment for participants, ensuring a smooth and enjoyable experience for everyone involved.Volunteers must commit to Option 1 and volunteer for at least 4-6 hours per week for a minimum of 12 weeks between May 12 and August 25, 2025 (which is a 15 week period).

Reading Cart

Volunteers will round on patients to offer books and magazines.

Request the Arts

Volunteers assemble and deliver activity kits to hospital inpatients on request. Volunteers will also round on patients to offer activity kit.

 

Hospitality Cart / Blood Cancer Center

Duke Blood Cancer Center (BBC) volunteers will provide opportunities for socialization to patients and caregivers in an outpatient setting. Their primary role is to spend time talking to patients and families, providing a comforting presence. They can listen to patients’ and families’ concerns, offer refreshments/blankets, and educate families about other DCPSP services. Volunteers must commit to Option 1 and volunteer for at least 4-6 hours per week for a minimum of 12 weeks between May 12 and August 25, 2025 (which is a 15 week period).

Lenox Baker Children’s Hospital / 3000 Erwin Road, Durham, NC 27705 (offsite location)

Volunteers in this program play with children to provide distraction in Lenox Baker Children’s Hospital and Valvano Day Hospital. Volunteers may also assist children with crafts, reading, and playing games in the waiting areas. Volunteers may take patients back for appointments and assist with patient flow in the busy waiting areas by informing patients and families of wait times.

Outpatient Clinic Waiting Rooms / Cancer Center

Outpatient Volunteers offer hospitality, support, and a caring presence to patients and families visiting the Duke Cancer Center. Their primary role is to offer compassionate companionship in waiting areas, engaging in meaningful conversations and providing a comforting presence for those awaiting appointments. Volunteers actively listen to patients' and families' concerns, offer refreshments, and educate them about additional Duke Cancer Patient Support Program (DCPSP) services. Beyond interpersonal support, volunteers also ensure the host stations are fully stocked and prepared for each service, contributing to a welcoming and organized environment.

Outpatient Clinic Waiting Rooms / Clinics 2A, 2B2C, 2F2G

Volunteers interact with patients and staff by assisting with greeting patients upon arrival to the clinic, providing support to patients/visitors while in the waiting area, provide directions to patient when looking for other appointments and assisting patients with appointment itineraries. Volunteers are a liaison to elevate concerns of patients/visitors to clinical staff. Volunteers may also assist with Duke My Chart registration.

Patient Escort / Blood Cancer Center

Patient Escort Volunteers will play a vital role in supporting our phlebotomy team during clinic appointments. Their responsibilities include confirming the identification of patients being called for their appointments, escorting these patients from the waiting room to the phlebotomy bays, and assisting them in returning to the waiting room after their appointments are completed. Volunteers may also be assigned additional duties as necessary. Volunteers must commit to Option 1 and volunteer for at least 4-6 hours per week for a minimum of 12 weeks between May 12 and August 25, 2025 (which is a 15 week period).

Pediatric Food Pantry

The pediatric food pantry provides food baskets to our patients and families that experiencing any form of food insecurity. Volunteers will provide intake forms to patient families and return completed forms to social worker or provider where they will determine if the family qualifies for a food pantry distribution. If they qualify, volunteer will provide the family with a bag of groceries at the end of their clinic visit. Volunteers will also inventory, package, and transport 4-8 ten pound bags of groceries by rolling cart. (Only available on Wednesdays)

Resource Center / Cancer Center

Resource Center Volunteers will aid patients, families, and staff in finding information and referral services related to cancer and our supportive services. In addition, the volunteer will welcome patients and families to a quiet place to wait while at the Duke Cancer Institute and listen to patients’ and families’ concerns.

Self-Image / Cancer Center

Self-image volunteers will encourage, inform, and compassionately care for our patients and guests when they visit the Cancer Center Boutique. They will assist patients with self-image products such as wigs, hats, turbans, etc. In addition, our volunteers will work closely with our self-image consultants and other members of the boutique team. This role may require lifting heavy items and performing overhead movements as part of the job responsibilities. Volunteers must commit to Option 1 and volunteer for at least 4-6 hours per week for a minimum of 12 weeks between May 12 and August 25, 2025 (which is a 15 week period).

Surgical Waiting Rooms / Duke North/Main Hospital, Duke Medicine Pavilion (DMP), Children’s Health Center (CHC), Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC)

Volunteers will spend their time in the waiting room speaking with patients/visitors and checking in to see if they have questions or need anything. They will work very closely with the staff at the patient registration desk, taking directions from them and assisting them in any way possible. Volunteers will also escort visitors into the unit where patients are either waiting for surgery or recovering from surgery. Way finding is also important in this role; being able to follow a map and escort visitors to their destination.

Gift Shop

Volunteers will assist with sales, cash register operation, stocking and restocking, answering phone inquiries, and assisting manager as needed.

Music Volunteer

Volunteers will be playing instrumental music for adults and child patient populations, their loved ones and staff in public spaces (waiting areas, concourse areas and lobbies) to ease the stress of a hospital visit or stay. No vocal music is featured for the public space performances. Volunteers will promote the recognition of the importance of the arts-specifically music-in lowering blood pressure and creating a positive distraction. Volunteers must have excellent Live Music Performing skills and be able to perform music for a 2 hour shift (you do not need 2 hours of solo music, the shifts are broken into two 50-minute sets that can be repeated)

Navigator

Volunteers will serve as a very important point person for patients and visitors, personally guiding and directing patients to appointments, providing information, directions and way finding to patients and visitors, helping patients and visitors locate resources or directing them to the appropriate source if they have a problem or question. Volunteers will also deliver flowers and gifts to the front desk of each unit, not to the patient’s rooms. Volunteers are expected to offer a very high level of customer service, serving as an extension of the professional team.

Activity Assistant (Hospital School/Summer Camp)

The Hospital School provides academic services to outpatient and inpatient students in grades Pre-K to 12. Volunteers will help with the organization and implementation of Summer Camps including packing activity kits and working with children to do the activities.

  • Volunteers must be able to volunteer Monday to Friday, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, for at least two of the weeks listed below:
    • July 7 to July 11, 2025
    • July 14 to July 18, 2025
    • August 4 to August 8, 2025
    • August 11 to August 15, 2025
  • Volunteers must also be able to attend the mandatory training and create activity kits which will be scheduled in June.

Child & Adolescent Life

The Child and Adolescent Life Volunteer will provide caring, non-medical support services to all pediatric patients, 3 years of age and older, who are hospitalized at Duke Children's Hospital. Volunteer will work to create an efficient yet comfortable and supportive environment. Volunteers may supervise and facilitate individual and groups of children in the activity room during scheduled play periods, which may include facilitating activities with board games, Nintendo Wii, arts/crafts, reading, and other appropriate areas of interest and imaginative play. Volunteers must commit to Option 1 and volunteer for at least 6 hours per week for a minimum of 12 weeks between May 12 and August 25, 2025 (which is a 15 week period).

Pediatric Visual Arts

Volunteer provides positive educational art activities for pediatric patients, siblings, and parents waiting for or receiving treatment. Provide an opportunity for using art for creative expression and socialization and as a coping mechanism, to assist with reducing stress, anxiety and depression and to assist with normalizing the hospital experience, including the outpatient experience. Volunteers must commit to Option 1 and volunteer for at least 6 hours per week for a minimum of 12 weeks between May 12 and August 25, 2025 (which is a 15 week period).