Hospice Volunteer - Patient Companionship & Family Support

Position Purpose

Viking Hospice volunteers support patients, families, and the hospice team through compassionate companionship, appropriate non-clinical assistance, administrative support, and meaningful legacy activities. Volunteers help us know the person beyond the diagnosis while respecting each patient’s choices, dignity, privacy, culture, and plan of care.

Primary Responsibilities

• Provide companionship through conversation, reading, music, quiet presence, letter writing, or other approved activities.
• Learn about a patient’s life story when the patient/family wishes to participate, including meaningful memories, favorite music, proud moments, travel experiences, traditions, and what makes a good day.
• Assist with the Viking Hospice Patient Story & Keepsake Project by gathering approved information and submitting it for creation/review of a short narrative keepsake.
• Perform only duties included in the volunteer assignment and, for direct patient/family services, consistent with the patient’s plan of care.
• Document volunteer date, time, duration, type of service, and other required activity information.
• Report concerns, changes, emergencies, boundary issues, or requests outside the volunteer role to the designated hospice supervisor.
• Maintain patient and family confidentiality and follow Viking Hospice privacy and safety policies.
• Administrative volunteers may assist with approved office tasks, calls, mailings, filing, outreach materials, or other non-clinical duties

Volunteers Do Not

• Provide nursing care, medication administration, clinical assessments, medical advice, or other services requiring a license unless separately qualified, authorized, and assigned.
• Accept money, loans, significant gifts, or become involved in a patient’s financial or legal affairs.
• Share patient information, photographs, stories, or identify details outside authorized hospice processes.
• Promise services or make decisions on behalf of Viking Hospice.

Qualifications

• Compassionate, dependable, respectful, and able to maintain appropriate boundaries.
• Comfortable interacting with people facing serious illness, death, grief, and family stress.
• Ability to follow instructions and communicate concerns promptly.
• Successful completion of Viking Hospice screening, orientation, and role-specific training requirements before assignment.

Orientation & Training

Training will be appropriate to the volunteer’s assigned duties and will include hospice philosophy and services, role expectations and reporting structure, confidentiality and patient rights, communication and boundaries, family dynamics and coping, death and bereavement, emergency procedures, documentation, infection/safety practices as applicable, and Patient Story & Keepsake procedures.