The Hidden Heart of the Hospital

Monitors beep. Equipment rolls by, trailing a blur of white coats and colored scrubs. A solemn voice occasionally buzzes through the intercom.

Amid this constant motion, numerous medical staff work to provide care to patients – physicians making their rounds, nurses completing procedures, receptionists checking patients in for their appointment.

But these are not the only people working amid this commotion. This story is about recognizing the people working hard by their side – the volunteers.

At Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, hospital volunteers – ranging from undergraduate students to retired employees – can be found everywhere, whether it be in the inpatient units, outpatient departments or information desk. From escorting patients throughout the hospital to gathering equipment for nurses, volunteers are constantly working behind the scenes to make a visit to the hospital less daunting for visitors and staff alike. But of all the rewarding aspects of volunteering, the opportunity to uplift patients is a cornerstone of their experience at the hospital.

For student volunteers, especially those who aspire to pursue a career in medicine, working in a clinical setting has provided insight into the workflow and responsibilities of medical staff. Through the Care Extender Program at UCLA Health, student volunteers rotate through multiple departments of the hospital and learn more about the role of each specialty. Students fill a variety of roles – helping patients in finding their way around the hospital, assisting the patient transport team or supporting medical staff with clerical responsibilities.

Margaret Sasere, a second-year biochemistry student who works as a Patient Transport volunteer at the medical center, said she enjoys the one-on-one conversations with patients on their way to the discharge room or their pickup locations. Though these conversations are relatively brief, Sasere appreciates them as opportunities to learn more about the world from different perspectives.

"Sometimes you'll get teenagers your age or children or the elderly people," Sasere said. "I feel like you get the chance to meet a lot of different people from a lot of different backgrounds, which I feel is really nice."

Although volunteers do not have the health care credentials to assist in the process of recovery for patients, they can still satisfy important roles that health care providers may not be able to because of their packed schedules with rounds and procedures.

Hannah Hoang, a recent UCLA alumnus who volunteered as a Care Extender, said because volunteers have more time on their hands compared to health care providers, they are able to fulfill the needs of patients that may not directly assist them in recovery. She added that volunteers can approach medicine in a more holistic manner, addressing aspects of patient needs and care that may be overlooked.

"We're able to give information that nurses might have a hard time giving and wording," Hoang said. "More people in medicine makes the process better, in my sense. The more perspectives that you have in medicine, it makes the care better."

For adult volunteers, the hospital offers ample opportunities for them to do what they strive to do the most – to give back and help others. Referred to as Ambassadors at the medical center, former or retired UCLA employees and other adults find ways to bring care and joy to patients, visitors and medical staff.

Kit Spikings, who has volunteered at the medical center for more than three decades, said she appreciates the relationships that she has been able to establish with patients throughout her time at the hospital. She works with long-term patients by volunteering for palliative care and spiritual care. For the service she provides to patients and their families, she said she gets rewarded a hundredfold through the gratitude that patients and their families express to volunteers.

Spikings recalled helping the family of a pediatric patient when they were visiting the hospital. Looking to comfort them, she brought the patient’s siblings coloring books as they accompanied the patient during their hospital stay. As the visit ended, they left behind thank-you cards made using pages from the coloring books – gifts she still cherishes years later.

Looking back on her experience as a Care Extender, Hoang said one of her most heartwarming memories was an interaction with a patient’s daughter during a visit to the emergency room on Father’s Day. As the visitor thanked her, Hoang thought of her own relationship with her father.

"I felt like I was another daughter helping another daughter, even though she was like 40," Hoang said. "And then she hugged me, and that was the first hug I had in a while. To be honest, (that was) the first time I cried in a while because there's just so much things going on in my life. And I was like, ‘I'm sure she had it worse,’ and the fact that she gave me so much grace for it, ... it was just a lot."

For Eilish Hathaway, who has been an Ambassador at the medical center for 20 years, her most memorable experiences involve working with babies in the emergency department. She described the department as a challenging, yet rewarding space to work in, helping babies with health complications. But she found it personally rewarding to give people comfort in their difficult situations, such as by holding babies while their parents are on break.

Spikings added that watching patients battle through health complications puts her life in perspective. She added that it is a gift to provide support to patients and their families during challenging times.

"It’s a gift that I love," Spikings said. "I’ve always loved it, and it takes the onus off of you."

Beyond being able to bond with the patients that they assist in recovery, volunteers said their experience allowed them to gain a better understanding of the people and work done at a hospital. Jennifer Yang, a second-year physiological science student who volunteers at the medical center as a Care Extender, realized the weight of nurses’ work in the patient recovery process through her shifts.

"A big misconception is that doctors, like you see (in) the shows, are always around, doing every single part of the health care plan," Yang said. "But honestly, the nurses are the backbone of how patients recover. They're there 24/7. They're the ones helping the patients at any time."

For Yang, this new understanding has a personal touch. The daughter of a neonatal nurse, Yang now has a better understanding of her mother’s work through her volunteering in the neonatal intensive care unit. Adding to the inspiration she gained from listening to her mother’s stories from work growing up, Yang said her volunteer experience further solidified her passion for and pursuit of a career in medicine.

As one of the volunteers responsible for bringing the Kindness Cart – a cart with goodies for medical staff to encourage them during their shifts – to different floors of the hospital, Hathaway said she values the opportunity to be an encouraging figure for the hardworking medical staff, promoting appreciation and gratitude among members of the hospital community.

"There's a lot of gratification," Hathaway said. "It's just an ordinary thing to just go up and say, ‘Thank you,’ and give them (medical staff) a candy bar. ... It's just a small thing. But they're so grateful that somebody even acknowledges that they are doing the work that they do."

Supporting medical staff, volunteers are also exposed to the difficulties of jobs in medicine, gaining a more complete understanding of the field. As a Care Extender, Hoang said she had a range of negative experiences – from dealing with a combative patient to working with a nurse who treated her in a demeaning manner – that ultimately led her to question medicine as a field to pursue a career in.

But while Hoang’s experience at the hospital may not have always been ideal, she said her negative experiences and realizations of the medical field’s systemic problems inspired her to work toward making health care services more accessible to marginalized communities.

"It made me see the bad sides of medicine, but it empowers you because you want to fix it," Hoang said. "You want to make it better for your community."

As much as volunteering involves service to others, it can also be an opportunity for personal development.

For Sasere, whose parents are from Nigeria, one of her most memorable conversations was with another patient who is also Nigerian. She appreciated him sharing his personal life experiences, giving her life advice and supporting her pursuit of more experience in the health care field.

Meanwhile, watching the hard work of medical staff firsthand can further inspire volunteers, especially students, to make greater contributions to the medical field in the future. Although the constant motion and exchange of complex medical terminology among staff can be intimidating, witnessing this environment has fascinated Yang and fueled her passion for medicine.

"It really made me in awe of these attendings and residents," Yang said. "Seeing how they interact, and even hearing them talk about the patients and stuff, it was definitely really inspiring."

Altogether, the volunteers said their experience helping patients taught them invaluable lessons about empathizing with others. Sasere said being a volunteer allowed her to be in the shoes of health care providers and realize that the patients are other human beings with whom she can build relationships.

"It feels more down-to-earth," Sasere said. "It feels like I'm closer to these people, and it's not just an abstract thought. Patients are not just an abstract thing that I never really have to deal with but other people who are just there to get help."

Meanwhile, serving a diverse group of patients as a volunteer can be an opportunity to better understand different perspectives and adopt a more humanistic approach when working with patients.

"I hope because of my experiences and at least what I went through, I'm able to connect with patients more because I understand what they're going through," Hoang said. "I might have a patient that doesn't speak the same language as me, but we know what we're both going through. ... I'm not a mother, but I know what it means to be the daughter of a mother who works minimum wage and has so much going on in her life."

And while the volunteers are focused on helping others, they also said they have noticed changes in themselves because of their work. Hoang said her volunteer experience has been an opportunity of personal fulfillment, ultimately leading her to see herself in a brighter light. And for Spikings, being in a space full of gratitude and giving has made her become more appreciative of life.

Ultimately, these benefits of giving and serving others has been a motivating factor to continue their journey as volunteers.

"The gift of love, the gift of life, the gift of gratitude and the gift of giving," Spikings said. "I'll do it for as long as I can do it."