Homeless Volunteering

I had my first night volunteering with a group that does homeless youth (< 25 yrs) outreach. They have a medical van that goes out and actually serves people of any age, not just youth. The medical services provided are another draw for the kids to come by and for the outreach workers to connect with them. I really enjoyed myself.

It'll be an intense learning experience as I will have to start really relying on my own assessments and plans; I won't have another person to double check it with (Usually it's one medical person, RN, NP, MD or PA volunteering at a time). Tonight I was working with a NP. I think with what I saw today, I'll be ok. If it's a true emergency, we'll call 911, which they've had to do a few times in the past. One guy I would have been nervous with as he was on heroin and coke and he was really twitchy. But I think I'll get better at gauging it.

I've been surprised at how honest the patients were. One pt. told me in the same sentence about her daughter and her heroin addiction. This will be a good exercise in learning patience and acceptance. The knowledge of her daughter makes me even more uncomfortable with her addiction. But lectures of any kind will NOT work and are completely inappropriate. I did get her info about the community health center close to where she lives and she promised to make an appointment tomorrow (CA-MRSA with two abscesses). The more connected she gets to the community and the more resources she has to depend on, the better she will be. I tell myself and I believe that it is about building support for individuals and through engagement change can occur.