Volunteering at a Hospital

Learning Objective Seven

07/19/2022 - 05/20/2024

I volunteer once a week at a major hospital in my area. I often discharge patients or work at the front desk to guide patients and their families safely around the building. To enter this program, you must apply at the end of your sophomore year and pass the interview that accompanies it.

While volunteering, I have really defined ethical responsibility. For example, I discharge patients to their families, and I must decide to be as kind as possible to them when leaving the hospital. Being an ethically sound person at the hospital suggests being kind. More importantly, I have access to a host of patient information, and I cannot share that information with anyone that walks through the door. I must be ethical in my use of that information, especially concerning stories that happen at the hospital, or patients I see.

Because we live in a world fundamentally based on ethics and decision-making, we should consider the ethics of choices and actions in our lives. Humans live in society, and to live in society, we must do things that are expected and acceptable for us to do. Being unethical suggests that you aren’t doing either of those things, and that is an inherent negative. Considering the consequences of your actions and the personhood of others is essential for human experience, and to do these things you must consider the ethics of your actions every time you do something.