Hospital & Hospice Volunteer Training

What you’ll learn

• Understand the volunteer’s role on the care team and the hospice 5% requirement
• Protect patient privacy under HIPAA — minimum necessary, no photos, no social media
• Prevent infection with hand hygiene, PPE basics, and staying home when sick
• Stay within a volunteer’s scope — comfort and companionship, never clinical care
• Respond safely to falls, emergencies, and hospital codes by calling staff
• Offer compassionate presence and active listening at the bedside
• Show grief awareness and cultural and spiritual sensitivity near the end of life
• Put it all together into a confident, safe first shift

Course outline

1. 1

   Your role on the care team

   Why volunteers matter in hospitals and hospice — including the Medicare 5% rule — and what your role is (and isn’t).

   6 min Quiz Interactive
2. 2

   Patient privacy & HIPAA

   What counts as protected health information, the “minimum necessary” rule, and why photos and social media are off-limits.

   8 min Quiz Written + interactive
3. 3

   Infection prevention

   Hand hygiene as your single most powerful tool, plus PPE basics, isolation signage, and staying home when sick.

   8 min Quiz Interactive
4. 4

   Staying within your scope

   The bright line between comfort/companionship and clinical care — and why “just this once” can be dangerous.

   7 min Quiz Interactive
5. 5

   Safety, falls & emergencies

   How to prevent and respond to falls, when to call for help, and how hospital emergency codes work at a high level.

   7 min Quiz Interactive
6. 6

   Compassionate presence & listening

   The heart of the volunteer role — being fully present and listening well, especially in hospice.

   7 min Quiz Written + interactive
7. 7

   Grief & cultural sensitivity

   Grief has no single “right” shape — and every patient’s culture and faith deserve respect near the end of life.

   6 min Quiz Written + interactive
8. 8

   Putting it all together

   A practical walkthrough of a first shift that ties privacy, infection control, scope, safety, and presence into one flow.

   6 min Quiz Interactive

Sources & further reading

• U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (Office for Civil Rights) — HIPAA Privacy Rule — Minimum Necessary Requirement
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — Clean Hands — Hand Hygiene in Healthcare Settings
• NHPCO / National Alliance for Care at Home — NHPCO Facts and Figures (hospice volunteer role & the Medicare 5% requirement)
• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services — 42 CFR § 418.78 — Hospice Condition of Participation: Volunteers
• The Joint Commission — Speak Up — patient safety campaign for patients, families & visitors
• Hospice Foundation of America — Volunteering for Hospice — the volunteer role, listening & presence