Health and social care is one of the largest volunteering sectors in the UK. This includes organisations like the NHS and charities which improve the wellbeing of people of all ages. So what do helpers actually get involved with? The opportunities are more diverse than we imagined as our bloggers reveal.

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Thursday Sep 09, 2010

The story so far

Hello, I’m Geraint. I am 21 years old and live in South Wales. Ever since I was a child I have always wanted to work in a health and social care setting. Initially as a paramedic (watching ‘Casualty’ on the TV spoiled that idea for a while when one of the paramedics was thrown off a roof!) but more recently I have been interested in Nursing Care.

In order to fulfil my dreams of working in health care, I initially studied for a BTEC National Diploma in Health Studies. After one year I had the idea of becoming a doctor so dropped out of the BTEC course after 1 year in order to study the A Levels I would need to get into medical school. Less than a year into the courses I realised I didn’t have what it takes to become a doctor. My grades were poor, I was struggling with the sciences and my head of school told me I’d “never make it to medical school”. This was a bitter blow for me. Usually such comments make me more determined to prove people wrong. But this time, he was right. When I got my A Level results in August 2008 I remember thinking that I should have stuck with my first BTEC course. I had failed Biology, got a D in Psychology and an E in AS Level Chemistry. I remember thinking at the time that maybe I should have stuck with my first BTEC course?  If I had, I would have been a first year student nurse instead of receiving poor A Level Results. If that was the case, I would have graduated as a staff nurse and started my first nursing job this month. But do I regret my decisions? No - not at all. I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and as the song says “Que Sera, Sera” – “What Will Be, Will Be”.  I have met some fantastic people, gained some awesome experiences and had fun along the way.

Even though I have volunteered as a first aider for many years I have more recently become a Hospital Volunteer. I have been doing this for the past 3 years, primarily based in the Emergency Department but often working on various other wards including surgical, stroke, rehabilitation, and respiratory wards. This has given me a huge insight into the world of Health and Social Care and I believe it has enhanced my views of not only health and social care but other aspects of my life.

In future posts I will tell you more about why I began volunteering, more about my role as a Hospital Volunteer and hopefully share some of my experiences and memories of volunteering with you along with my views and my outlook on situations that arise as a result.

Geraint

=] x

Posted by Geraint ( 5:00 PM )
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