Inova Fairfax Medical Campus offers many opportunities for volunteer service in more than 30 areas, including patient interaction, staff support and retail assignments. Please note that not all areas are available at any given time.
Greatest need areas include Gift Shops, Treasure Trove shops, patient support services and clerical assignments.
Patient Interaction
Volunteers in these service areas interact to varying degrees with patients as well as with staff.
- Medical Interpreting: Performs a variety of medical interpreting services, including sight translation to assist non-English speaking patients receiving care within Inova Children’s Hospital. Must be able to demonstrate successful completion of a 40-hour medical interpreting training program.
- Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) and Gastroenterology Department: Help monitor outpatients recovering from surgery and procedures, provide for their needs and assist them on discharge
- Emergency Department: Provide supplemental services for patients and visitors and serve as a liaison between them and emergency department staff
- Patient relations: Visit new patients to personalize hospital and introduce them to services of patient representatives
- Patient support services: Transport patients to procedures, assist in discharge, deliver flowers, charts, patient mail and laboratory items
- Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP): Directly work with older patients – activities may include talking, helping with meals, and walking / mobility assistance
- Pediatrics: Assist Child Life staff by providing non-medical support to pediatric patients and their families, including bedside recreational activities and comfort
- Animal-assisted care: Improve patients’ function and well-being through physician-ordered interactions with trained, registered pet/human teams
- Clinical support: Add a dimension of care, comfort and support for patients on specific units at the direction of staff
- Pastoral/spiritual care: Visit patients and provide spiritual care through compassionate listening with respect to persons to all faiths, no faiths, all religions and all cultures
Retail
These volunteer opportunities are part of hospital operations. Three different Gift Shops are located on Inova Fairfax Medical Campus. The Treasure Troves are off site.
- Gift Shops: Assist visitors with selections and purchases in three onsite stores; help shop staff with other retail functions
- Treasure Trove shops: Assist customers with selections, receive and process donations and consignments, handle sales, create displays, perform other typical retail tasks
Staff Support
Volunteers serve as liaison with staff by interacting with patients, families and other hospital visitors, giving information and support.
- Surgical waiting desk: Provide updates and other information to families and friends of patients undergoing outpatient surgery
- Medical Library: Shelve or copy materials, locate information, help visitors with Web searches, etc.
- Clerical: Support the smooth and efficient operation of the assigned department, assisting staff with routine clerical activities
- Cardiovascular pre-operative support: Provide pre-operative support to those awaiting heart surgery and help relieve anxiety of waiting families
- Ronald McDonald Family Room: Supports the smooth and efficient operation of the Ronald McDonald Family Room, providing non-clinical support to families and caregivers
Requirements to Become a Volunteer
- Be at least 18 years of age
- Complete and pass a background check (valid social security number required)
- Commit to one, 3-4 hour shift per week
- Complete two rounds of tuberculosis screening OR one tuberculosis blood test
- Provide confirmation of receiving the MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella), Varicella (Chickenpox), Tdap for Pertussis (Whooping Cough) vaccines OR proof of immunity via titer
- Receive a flu vaccine (December – May)
- Attend a new volunteer training class
- Become a member of the Auxiliary of Inova Fairfax Medical Campus ($10 for age 18-59; $5 for age 60+)