CASE: WHEN I NEED THEM, THEYRE NOWHERE TO BE FOUND!

Melissa Jones is nurse manager of a 40-bed long-term-care unit which is essentially a small nursing home contained within Community Hospital. The unit is almost always fully occupied. A number of the patients spend several hours each day in wheelchairs, but most return to their beds for two or three hours in the afternoon. Melissa has a constant concern in that her limited staff is only marginally able to fill the needs of the elderly patients, especially given that some patients who go without visitors for prolonged periods are eager to engage staff members in conversation. Melissa has determined that a number of apparent patient needs, especially that for socialization, could be met with volunteers. So she developed a volunteer roster consisting of persons who indicated their willingness to help, following which she developed a 30-day schedule for volunteer support.

On the initial day of the schedule three of five scheduled volunteers failed to show up. On the following day, two did not appear. Only one appeared on each of the third and fourth days, and on the fifth daya Friday, with gorgeous summer weather beckoning all to the outdoorsno volunteers were present in the unit. Melissa gave up on her schedule. Melissa was thoroughly discouraged by the volunteers lack of dependability. And since she had made no secret of her new volunteer program, a number of patients were similarly discouraged and several complained that Melissa had not delivered as promised. As Melissa complained to her friend Carol, I had a couple dozen supposedly willing volunteers on my list, but when I need them theyre nowhere to be found!

Please answer the following questions using the materials for the class and outside research. Provide complete and robust responses for each question. Analysis of this case should be thoughtful and original.

Submit on a Word document. College level writing and application of APA format is expected.

Questions:

1. Since volunteers, as unpaid help that essentially supplement the regular staff, may often feel no compelling need to function by the clock, what might Melissa consider doing to encourage a more reliable volunteer presence?

2. How might Melissa have her regular staff assist in encouraging a continuing volunteer presence?

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