6. If you suspect abuse it must be reported to the authorities. [any advice to elaborate here?]
ApostateKate - In response to this, I would say be careful about giving this advice. Saying you "must" report it sounds like they are under legal obligation to do so, when they most likely are not equipped to make that judgement. While there can be unmistakable cases of abuse (such as witnessing someone hitting a patient), there are some things that might look alarming to a volunteer that are not abuse. For example, some patients need to be physically restrained so they can't pull out their I.V.s, which means their wrists would be tied down to the bed rail with medical restraints.
At a nursing home I worked at, there was a student nurse who was working with a bedridden patient for ONE day; this patient had a pretty bad bed sore. The staff nurses were doing the prescribed dressing changes twice a day, turning the patient every 1 1/2 hours, etc., everything they could do to get it healed up. The student nurse failed to realize that this patient had other severe health problems which made her very suceptible to bed sores (diabetic, very thin, bedridden, poor circulation). However the student nurse became upset about this bedsore and determined in her mind that the patient was being neglected. She said nothing to us (the staff nurses), nothing to her clinical instructor who was always on-site; instead she went home and called the state board of health. The state did have to come investigate to follow protocol, and found that the patient was not being neglected and that the staff was doing everything they could and should do for this patient.
My point is, you might set up a protocol for volunteers to be able to appropriately discuss things of concern. Be aware of patient privacy laws as well-volunteers should not reveal information about patients to outside sources. If the volunteer is working in a nursing home, you might set up a chain of communication for them so they know who they can and should speak with if they are concerned about something. The first stop should be the nurse in charge of caring for the patient, or the head nurse on the unit.
Hope this helps!
