Outreach Nursing Support Volunteer

  • VO94340


Description

Nursing Support Volunteers support the CHAS at Home team in families own homes with tasks such as bathing, assisting with personal care, moving and handling, getting children ready for bed, helping children up and dressed in the mornings.
The aim of this role is to work closely with the nursing team, providing an 'extra pair of hands' when on a family visit providing high quality care to children and young people, ensuring they get the right support at the right time.

What activities will I be involved in?

  • Helping to bathe and dress the children
  • Undertaking personal care of children whilst working alongside a member of the nursing team
  • Managing or access to sensitive and confidential medical and personal information regarding the children and families accessing our services
  • Sitting with a child undertaking play, storytelling, watching a movie etc. whilst nursing staff attend to medical needs of other children and young people

What skills and abilities will I need to have?

  • Experience of working in (or towards) a care or clinical role
  • Have experience of knowledge of children with complex needs
  • Empathy, tact, sensitivity
  • An ability to relate to people of all ages and walks of life
  • Adhere to rules around GDPR and a strong understanding of confidentiality
  • Good communication skills

How much time should I offer?
You might want to offer a regular commitment of 2-4 hours a week. This can be further discussed with the CHAS at Home team as to how this would work for all in terms of fixed or flexible shifts.

Where is the opportunity based?
We are building a team of nursing support volunteers across the country but at the moment are prioritising in the central belt and Inverness areas.

We do pay travel expenses and would ask that volunteers ideally live within a 40-60 minute drive of the family they would be visiting.

What are the benefits to me?

  • Learning new skills
  • Using your existing skills for a great cause
  • Getting more involved and making a real difference to families
  • Adding to your cv
  • Meeting new people from diverse backgrounds
  • Having fun!

What are the benefits to the children and families supported by CHAS?
By volunteering in nursing support you will be ensuring that children and young people receive the highest quality quality care and support throughout their time with CHAS.

What else should I know?
The role is open to anyone age 18 and over and requires membership of the PVG scheme. There is a simple form to complete and we will assist you with this. You may already have a PVG, if so you will only need to complete an update form. The process won’t cost you anything and having a criminal record will not automatically exclude you from volunteering. We will assess each applicant on an individual basis.

CHAS is committed to providing a quality volunteering experience to all volunteers free from discrimination and prejudice. Ensuring that CHAS is an equal, diverse, and inclusive organisation helps improve the quality of care we provide and helps us reach more families and children, maximising a wide variety of knowledge, experience and expertise.

We welcome volunteer applications from those who are refugees, asylum seekers, benefit claimants and those with a disability. We can provide more information on if you are allowed to volunteer and what adjustments we can put in place to ensure your volunteering experience is a positive one.

Organisation aims and objectives

CHAS is the only charity in Scotland that provides vital hospice services for children and young people with life-shortening conditions. We offer care for the whole family in our two children's hospices, Rachel House in Kinross and Robin House in Balloch. We also run a homecare service called CHAS at Home helping families in their own homes across Scotland when they need it most. We are currently supporting over 300 families, as well as significant number of families who receive bereavement support. Our services are funded mainly through the generousity of our many supporters who help us to raise over £9million needed each year to provide these hospice services.

Restrictions

Minimum age: 18

Support

Expenses paid: Yes
Expenses details: We will pay your out of pocket expenses in line with the CHAS volunteer expenses policy.
Training details: It’s important to us that you feel happy, safe and confident in your role. As a CHAS volunteer you will be invited to complete a short core learning package online that is tailored to your role. Your learning will include child and adult protection, moving and handling of people, basic health and safety as well as fire safety. You will be invited to attend an induction which will cover infection control and be required to update moving and handling if you do have current certificates. For your role there will also be a requirement to attend a number of supervision session per year.