After School Tutoring Program
La Rabida’s tutors provide one-on-one help with school work to an assigned child at weekly tutoring sessions. Tutors should have a desire to improve the educational experience while serving as a role model and mentor for the children in the tutoring program. Sessions are held at the hospital every Tuesday evening from 5:30 to 7 p.m.
Acute Care Clinic
Volunteers in the Acute Care Clinic work in the midst of the clinical team and provide support to patients, families and staff by, among other tasks, escorting patients to x-ray, preparing exam rooms and running labs. They also greet families and provide child care for the siblings of patients during the visit.
Child Life
Volunteers assist Child Life staff with activities for the children, including arts and crafts, story time, recreation, games and learning activities. They may work in the Child Life Pavilion playroom or at the child’s bedside.
Information Desk
Volunteers at the Information Desk welcome patients, families and visitors to La Rabida, give directions, answer telephones, and escort visitors among other duties. Volunteers at the Information Desk often provide the first contact our patients, families, and visitors have with La Rabida.
Literacy
Literacy program volunteers are part of a hospital-wide effort to encourage reading and a love of books in our children. These volunteers read to our children in the hospital waiting areas and also work with siblings and accompanying family members in an effort to encourage reading at home.
S.S. La Rabida (Inpatient Unit)
S.S. La Rabida volunteers work with patients in our inpatient unit. They visit children at the bedside to play games, read books, do puzzles and spend quality time together. Providing compassionate, joyful one-on-one attention to our patients is the most important part of an S.S. La Rabida volunteers duties.
Extra TLC
Extra TLC volunteers spend several hours with a particular patient each week. They care for and nurture La Rabida’s youngest patients to promote bonding, communication, and learning when external circumstances prevent families from being with their child as often as they would like. Extra TLC volunteers are required to commit to visiting 2-3 times per week for 2-3 hours at a time and are paired with one infant patient for the duration of that patient’s stay. Extra TLC volunteers must first complete 20 hours of service in the inpatient unit and must complete three required training courses.
Feeder-Rocker
These volunteers are specially trained to feed infants, toddlers, and others who are not self-feeders. Feeder-rockers work one-on-one with assigned patients who require prolonged feedings or who have other feeding difficulties. Feeder-rocker volunteers must first serve for 6 months in the inpatient unit and must complete a required training course.
Outpatient Clinic
Volunteers in the Outpatient Clinic are responsible for working with clinical staff and patients and for helping our patient families complete Truthpoint Surveys to provide feedback on their experiences here at the hospital. This data is very important to La Rabida in being able to continue to provide care that meets the needs of those we serve. Outpatient Clinic volunteers also greet families and provide child care for the siblings of patients during the visit.
Become a Volunteer
- After a personal interview and appropriate background checks, potential volunteers attend a one-day orientation before placement in an appropriate program. Each volunteer must also undergo a health screen, conducted at La Rabida or elsewhere.
- Each volunteer must provide a basic medical history, have blood pressure checked, and other basic screens. If possible, please supply proof of a current tuberculosis test and immunizations. Volunteers usually get their immunization records from their family, physician or school. La Rabida has a mandatory flu vaccination policy. If your start date is during the flu season, you are required to provide official documentation that you've received a flu vaccine this season. If your start date is not during the flu season you will be required to get a flu vaccine during the next flu vaccine period.
- The minimum age to volunteer at La Rabida is 16.
- The children at La Rabida often experience lengthy or frequent hospital stays. Continuity and predictability help them adapt to the hospital setting and become more comfortable with those who support their care. That’s why we ask volunteers for most programs to make a minimum commitment of two hours weekly for one year. High school students are asked to serve two hours a week consistently for a total of 40 hours.
- The intake process for new volunteers can take a minimum of 4-6 weeks
- For more details please call 773.256.5904.