Vigil Sitting for Hospice (Dauphin, Perry, Cumberland Counties)

Vigil Volunteers - Amedisys Hospice offers volunteers who are present with a patient in their last moments. As a vigil volunteer, you will provide on-call support to patients and families in the last 24-48 hours of life.

Skills:

• Need to be comfortable with silence.
• Create a calming and peaceful environment for patients who are actively dying/imminent (i.e. play music, talk with a patient who is not responsive)
• Provide gentle touch to the hand, back, arms, shoulder or hold hands
• Interpersonal skills: Be a support system for family and friends near, and post, death of a patient

As a vigil volunteer, please remember the following:

• You must be comfortable with, and able to talk about, death and dying
• During a vigil, a patient could pass in front of you
• Amedisys Hospice provides hospice in different settings. A vigil may be held at: a patients home, a skilled nursing facility or assisted living facility
• Vigils take place in the last hours before death, which may be during the day, night, and sometimes overnight.

Requirements:

• Be able to provide own transportation.
• Complete volunteer and orientation.
• Complete background check (free)
• Tuberculosis tests (free)
• Out of respect for the grieving process, if you are a surviving family member, we encourage you to wait a minimum of 12 months following the patient's death to serve as a direct care volunteer or in public relations activities.