This National Volunteer Week we are celebrating the PAH Intensive Care Unit waiting room team who were finalists in the most recent Metro South Health Staff awards.
This small but attentive team of legends offer compassionate support in the ICU waiting room, helping countless families through a difficult time in their lives with a listening ear, essential information, and a tea and coffee service which delivers the kind of warm hug people are looking for at a time of crisis.
An expansion of the service in 2024 ensures a comforting presence on both morning and afternoon shift and allows staff to be able to focus more on direct patient care.
Margaret, who has been part of the service for nearly six years said every shift is an opportunity to lend a helping hand.
“It’s a time when loved ones must be frantic with worry and they don’t know what’s going on. They are kept up to date, but it’s a feeling most people aren’t familiar with,” she said.
“Everyone reacts differently when they come in, often people are just in shock, but I’m always astonished by people’s good manners at that time.”
And the benefits of volunteering stretch beyond giving back for Margaret, who previously worked as a magazine editor at a publishing company.
“When you retire you suddenly think ‘well what am I doing.’ So this also gives me the feeling of being useful.”
“I have learnt so much while I’ve been here and I like that, I like learning things and it’s been really interesting,” she said.
The team of four regular vollies show exceptional team spirit and commitment to the service for the benefit of family members they support, as much as for their clinical colleagues.
They hold deep respect for the ICU staff's remarkable work and say there’s nowhere else they would rather volunteer.
A huge thank you to all of our incredible and generous volunteers across the hospital; you are truly valued, and PAH wouldn’t be the same without you.