Bonding with patients

Sarah Schmitz knows little about the medical field but a lot about some patients at Sherman Hospital.

She's heard about their kids and grandkids, how many years they were married and what kind of work they used to do. She's heard stories from their childhood and how they met their spouses.

"I find often that I'm going into rooms of elderly people," Schmitz said.

When they ask about her, they discover the Gilberts resident works as a substitute teacher and her husband is a pastor at Harvest Bible Chapel, "which leads into other things," she said.

Armed not with a stethoscope or magazine cart but only a friendly smile, Schmitz visits patients in a new program at the Elgin hospital called patient companions. These are volunteers who are likely good conversationalists or good listeners and are willing to sit and pass the time with a patient by talking or perhaps reading aloud.

"There are patients that just get lonely, or they forget where they are, and they're pushing the call button all day long," said Sharon Gilbert, director of volunteer services. "A lot of times it's not really about anything, and they're taking up the nurses' time because they just want to chat."

"This is a great way to just sit and talk to people and show them some love," Schmitz said.

Since late last year, she has served as a volunteer at Sherman, checking in with newly arrived patients to make sure they know how to call the nurse, get food when it's not mealtime or work the TV.

Now she also stops by the various nurses' stations to find out if anyone needs a visit. Some days, if the staff has been particularly harried, she gets a hero's welcome.

The need is greatest during weekday hours, when patients' family members may be working and unable to keep them company. For some patients, there are no family members nearby.

Most hospital guests use the time between the staff's routine maintenance checks to sleep or get to know roommates or fend for themselves in other ways. But others are not so self-sufficient.

Schmitz once spent two hours shooting the breeze with a post-operative patient, said Aubree Slayman, manager of the general surgical unit. Her efforts were especially appreciated by the nurse, whose time was freed up to attend to others on the 33-bed unit. The nurse returned to visit when she had a few minutes to spare.

Every day there's someone on her floor looking for conversation, Slayman said. Patient companions create a win-win-win situation, meeting the needs of both patients and nurses, and perhaps their own as well.

"She loves it," Gilbert said of Schmitz. "She said it just gives so much more meaning to what she was doing, and she believes she's making a real difference."

The staff thinks so, too.

"The nurses just love her," Gilbert said. "One nurse said, 'I'm so glad the volunteer came along because this one lady was taking up a lot of our time.' She kept calling them down to her room. That's tough for them when they have so many people to take care of."

The program needs more patient companions. Gilbert is looking for adult volunteers to commit to four-hour shifts, possibly once a week, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays.

There's little training involved, but the staff does want participants to have a few basics about hospital lingo, privacy and safety issues.

"So, no, if they're NPO, you can't be bringing them coffee," Gilbert said.

An NPO on a patient's chart, as new volunteers learn in the orientation, essentially means "no food by mouth."

Patient companions also need to recognize when to "gown up" before sitting down with a patient, as well as what to do in case there's a problem.

"If this happens or that happens, don't waste any time getting right to us," Gilbert said.

But these volunteers are really only there for a social call. They may need to call the nurse if a patient who is supposed to stay in bed doesn't, but they won't be assigned to high-risk rooms.

They won't be with patients being watched to prevent suicide, and "they're not going to be sitting with people that have serious problems like they're pulling out their cords all the time," Gilbert said. "We have paid sitters for that."

Sitters are more suited for "confused, combative" patients, Slayman agreed.

"We just don't want those who really need a sitter to be ditched for those who just need someone to talk with."

Gilbert has a small handful of people on board for the new opportunity but looks forward to welcoming others.

"I think it would be real rewarding, especially if you're somebody gabby or you like to read," she said.

For more information about volunteering as a patient companion, call Gilbert at (847) 429-8720.