Juanita Gyasiwa Egyin-Mensah

I volunteered at Urgent Care Hospital in Ghana during my long vacation. I decided to volunteer because I wanted to experience working in a hospital and also help take care of sick people and learn how to do so properly. I was able to volunteer in almost all the departments, which included the outpatient department (OPD), the wards, the laboratory, the pharmacy, and the main office. In the outpatient department, I helped with little tasks like patient escort, helping the nurses take vital records, and also assisting patients to the consulting room to see the doctor. I also assisted with feeding and reading books to children in their wards. I helped take inventory of the drugs in the hospital pharmacy and helped out with filing in the main office. It was a great experience, and I learned so much, did what I was told, and helped all those I could. I like the fact that I was able to work with the hospital staff, spend time with patients, do some administrative tasks with staff, and assist doctors. The experience also allowed me to meet new people and make lifelong friends. My experiences as a volunteer helped me grow into a person of dedication, integrity, determination, and compassion. I have fond memories of some patients. I remember two patients in particular who stood out for me. There was a teenage boy there with an injured leg. He became more of a friend than just a patient. It was really gratifying for me when he remembered my name and was excited to see me. It showed that I was more than a volunteer to this patient. Another patient was a little girl who was only a couple of months old, but she had respiratory problems. It really hurt me to see her struggling in pain, but I was able to hold her, comfort her, feed her, and play with her until she fell asleep. I looked forward to seeing her during my shifts, but one day she wasn’t in her room. I asked the nurses what happened to her, and they were all excited to tell me that she was discharged because she was healthy enough to stay out of the hospital. I was so happy to hear that news. The thought of being a part of her recovery made me smile. These experiences with these patients made me realize that I can be more than a volunteer and make a difference in the lives of other patients. I have learned so much about the medical field from these experiences. Volunteering is something I always look forward to doing during the summer or long vacations because I love to help people when the need arises. I believe that helping people is rewarding. Rewarding in the sense that I get to meet people on a daily basis to make a difference in their lives—especially the patients who looked forward to seeing me every single day—gave me much fulfillment.

Urgent Care Hospital

Sep 2016 – Nov 2016