It took a while before I actually reached floor 6 of the Horvitz Tower at Rainbow. As the second part of my volunteer orientation, I had to take a tour of Rainbow 6, the floor I will be working at for the next few weeks, have a quick training on the floor, and also receive a TB test.
Getting the TB test was an adventure. My sponsor directed me to the basement of Rainbow (I had never been down there). This was a true basement-with the mail cart, dark, cement floors, narrow hallways, etc- and I was traveling down by myself. She gave me a visual map (with pictures!) as a guide to find the room where they do TB tests. I got an eerie feeling when I was walking down the dark always, but I got to the room just fine with the map! When I got there, they immediately turned me around and told me to head back up to the first floor. So basically, I didn't really have to go the basement. I finally got a TB test and some blood work done. This took 45 minutes.
Yes, now I was headed toward Rainbow 6. I met my two other sponsors, and I shadowed another volunteer from Brush High School who is doing her senior project at Rainbow as well. She was my mentor for the day. After another hour of training specifically for Rainbow 6, I was allowed to interact with the patients.
Because of confidentiality issues, I am not allowed to reveal too much information. But I can say I worked with three adorable children today. I played with two children, a 5 months old and a 2 year old, in the Activity Center/Playroom, and I did bedside activities with an 8 year old girl. I realized that some of these children have literally grown up in this hospital and have been here for most of their lives. All the nurses knew the 2 year old and greeted her like it was an every day routine. They noticed how much she has grown since she has been here! It's nice that the nurses try to connect with the children during their stay.
~Clare
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