Meeter & Greeter Emergency Department Volunteer – Ulster Hospital

I worked in the Ulster Hospital for many years and after my retirement I wanted to be active and walking about. I met a Meeter & Greeter and I thought I’d love to do that – 12 years later and I still love it!

As a Meeter & Greeter I welcome patients and their families to the Ulster Hospital and take them to where they need to go. I also volunteer in the Emergency Department. I chat with the patients and if needed, I help to cut up their food. Sometimes I just listen to the patients and let them chat away.

Volunteering gives me something to look forward to. I love to meet new people and chat to them. It lifts my spirits to know that it may make their time in the Emergency Department a little bit easier and is always nice when the patients remember me if they are in again. There is a volunteering role out there for everyone.

“Laura and our Emergency Department Volunteers bring companionship to the older person in the Emergency Department – It can be a very long day waiting in one of the wards and they are able to have conversations, read books, provide some of our distraction techniques or even just sit and hold someone’s hand. All of this is very valuable and enhances the patient’s experience.”