Tulane Pharmacology Volunteer Blog

By the end of this month, I will have completed 10 service hours at UMC (22 total hours as of this post) leaving me with just 2 more I will have to complete in April. My tasks remained the same and consisted of restocking the refrigerator in the nourishment room with juice for patients, taking calls from patients and notifying nurses of their requests, and occasionally organizing patient files. There are some instances that make me a little nervous while volunteering such as when the nurses go on a lunch break or are busy elsewhere, and I am left alone at the desk. Given that I am only a volunteer and may not know where some things are, I am not likely able to help much when someone comes up and asks for something. In terms of the class, it feels nice to have the workload drop now that we are nearing the end of the semester. I am done with most of my presentations but still have 2 more left which I am still not a fan of. The one I dislike the most would be the Neuro presentation since

 During the month of February, I have volunteered at UMC for 6 hours (12 total hours for the semester as of this month). I did the same tasks of answering patient calls then informing the nurses of the patients' requests and restocking the refrigerator in the nourishment room with juice cocktails that are given to patients if they ask. One things that has always made me nervous during my volunteer shift is when I pick up a patient call, and I can't understand what they are saying. This has been due to a couple reasons such as the patient was not articulating clearly or the background noise (maybe from the TV) drowns out what they're saying. Those type of calls has always been difficult as I always needed someone's help to determine what the patient is asking for. If all else fails, I just call that patient's respective nurse and tell them that the patient has requested "something." In terms of how the class is going, it seems to me that the study load is l

During the month of January, I have volunteered for a total of 6 hours (2 hours every Sunday). I made my return to UMC on 1/14/24 after our winter break ended and was placed back in the ortho trauma unit. In my time there, I was tasked with answering calls from patients then notifying their respective nurses of their needs. I also helped organize folders and wiped down desks with sanitizing wipes. I was also asked to restock the refrigerator with drinks for the patients in case they asked for anything. There was one instance where I entered a patient's room to help him open some bottled drinks and place a straw in since he was unable to do so himself. During my first day back, my trip home was annoying as there was a parade going on in the area that I was unaware of, so I was caught in traffic for about 2 hours before I was able to get moving. I was prepared during the second week and was able to take an alternate route home. I experienced no difficulties yesterday as there seemed

 For the month of November, I volunteered for 4 hours at UMC. I volunteered for a shorter amount of time than I normally would as I have met the threshold for the hours required for this semester (12 hours). I have volunteered for a total of 19 hours during the past 3 months. During my time at UMC, I volunteered in the ortho trauma unit where I will likely be spending the remainder of my time in terms of volunteering. During my first day at the ortho trauma unit, I was taught how to pick up and answer phone calls from patients. Typically the patients would request something such as a bed pan or pain medication. I would then tell the patient that I would notify their respective nurse before doing so. I also had to track down on a sheet of paper which room called, the reason why the patient called, the time the patient called, the nurse who was notified of the patient's request, and the time the nurse was notified. The previous modules were not so bad, as I have figured out a way of

 In  the month of October, I have volunteered at UMC for 12 hours (3 hours every Sunday). I have been in the radiology department at UMC where the techs have allowed me to follow them around, so it was more of a shadowing experience this month. I have been reassigned to a different department and will start volunteering for 2 hours in the ortho trauma unit on Sundays moving forward, so I will be expecting to be involved in more duties. The volunteer coordinator told me that I would involved in small tasks that would help out nurses such as speaking with the patients and letting the nurses know what they need or bringing the patients a cup of water if they requested it. The past ANS & CV modules have been difficult as Dr. Katakam had warned the class about. There were numerous drugs to remember along with their indications, contraindications, and mechanisms of actions. I still did fine on the exams in the ANS & CV module despite not participating in the group study session that

 This past Sunday (9/24/23) I volunteered at UMC for 3 hours in the radiology department. During my interview prior to my first volunteer day, I chose the radiology department after being informed that they were in need of volunteers. I decided to volunteer at UMC specifically mainly after hearing about the volunteering opportunity from my peers during my undergrad years at the University of New Orleans. I had volunteered at UMC before during my undergrad years where I volunteered in both the ED and radiology department. In the ED, I sat at the liaison desk and brought visitors back to see a patient. I also went to grab wheelchairs for any patients coming in who were in need of one. I was also occasionally tasked with doing rounds as well. I decided to return to the radiology department as I heard that volunteers in that department were going to be more involved. This was something I had expressed interest in before leaving several months ago. While volunteering in the radiology depart