A nurse-led youth volunteering project to support older people on acute hospital wards

Charalambous, Liz

Abstract

Young people volunteering on acute hospital wards can provide extra support to older patients, for example with eating and drinking, with mobilising and with therapeutic activities. This extra support can reduce nurses' workload while providing older people with opportunities to interact and engage. For the young people involved, volunteering can improve their skills and confidence, as well as providing opportunities for career development. Nurses are well-placed for developing and managing volunteer services due to their leadership, clinical skills and experience. This article describes a volunteer project where young people aged 16 years and above support older people on acute hospital wards in an NHS trust in England. The project was designed and managed by a nurse using the NURTURe model, a framework for planning, developing and organising volunteer services to support older patients on acute hospital wards.

Citation

Charalambous, L. (2020). A nurse-led youth volunteering project to support older people on acute hospital wards. Nursing Management, 27(4), 21-26. https://doi.org/10.7748/NM.2020.E1926

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 20, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Jun 24, 2020
• Publication Date: Jul 30, 2020
• Deposit Date: Sep 25, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 25, 2021
• Journal: Nursing Management
• Print ISSN: 1354-5760
• Electronic ISSN: 2047-8976
• Publisher: RCN Publishing
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 27
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 21-26
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.7748/NM.2020.E1926
• Keywords: carers, career development, education, loneliness, management, older people, patients, professional, training, volunteers, ward managers, ward organisation, workforce.
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4924846
• Publisher URL: https://journals.rcni.com/nursing-management/evidence-and-practice/a-nurseled-youth-volunteering-project-to-support-older-people-on-acute-hospital-wards-nm.2020.e1926/abs
• Additional Information: The deposited article is the author's accepted manuscript and not the published version of record.; ; Charalambous, L. (2020). A nurse-led youth volunteering project to support older people on acute hospital wards. Nursing Management, 27(4), 26–31. https://doi.org/10.7748/nm.2020.e1926