Thursday, March 26, 2009
A gift of service
Nadine Abbott and more than 200 other Carilion volunteers worked a total of 32,475 hours in 2008.
Kyle Green | The Roanoke Times
Nadine Abbott, 93, answers the phone during a volunteer shift at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital. Abbott, a former nurse, has volunteered with Carilion for 23 years and was recently honored for her 15,000 hours of service.
Click the button above to see all of our community coverage, or go straight to your community's homepage with the menu below.
More community health stories
- Blood drive relies on team support
- Rocky Mount Lifestyle Health Center focuses on heart health
- Dozens of walkers brave the cold
- American Heart AssociationHealthy as a walk in the park
- Event offers support for survivors of suicide
Archive
Nadine Abbott, a 93-year-old volunteer at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, used to hate hospitals.
"I was sort of leery of hospitals," she said. "You know you'd smell ether real bad years ago when you came into the hospital, and I didn't feel good."
That was the way Abbott felt about visiting her aunt while she had cancer in the 1950s. But after just a few visits, the director of nursing asked Abbott if she would consider coming to work at Roanoke Memorial as a nursing assistant. So, in 1957, after her girls had grown up, Abbott began a career in nursing.
"I worked seven years on med-surgical," Abbott said. "And then went to neonatal where the preemies were. I stayed 18 years and that was really, really nice."
In 1980, Abbott turned 65 and her husband retired. So she retired too.
It wasn't long before Abbott's minister brought her to Carilion Roanoke Community Hospital to volunteer in the vascular waiting room, where she helped patients and their families through surgery. Answering questions, guiding families to recovery rooms and telling jokes became Abbott's responsibilities. She enjoyed working with the volunteers and doctors, she said. So when the vascular group moved to Roanoke Memorial, Abbott went with them.
Over the past six years, Abbott has continued holding hands and telling more jokes. And she's enjoyed every minute of it.
Shanna Flowers, the volunteer manager for Carilion, said volunteers such as Abbott help the hospital keep patients and their families more comfortable during very stressful times. Whether they are delivering flowers, escorting patients and their families around the hospital or just smiling, the volunteers are highly valued.
In fact, Flowers said the 220 volunteers at Roanoke Memorial worked 32,475 hours last year, which places a value of $552,075 on the volunteer program. Flowers based this value on the fact that each volunteer would be paid $17 per hour for their work done and the various contributions made that year.
Flowers said that many volunteers are former heart patients or cancer survivors. They could be considered the most helpful during a time when patients are trying to decide on which treatment would best suit them. Volunteers don't need to be retired nurses, either. Carilion will train volunteers with a two-hour orientation program.
Abbott volunteers about 28 hours a week and received an award in the winter for the 15,000 hours she has given over the past 23 years. And even though she helps people every day with her jokes and her smiles, she is thankful most of all to the hospital.
"Well, I just think it's wonderful first of all that I can get out of bed in the morning and get ready," Abbott explained. "Most of all I think its wonderful that the hospital will let people like me do this kind of work."
