Managing volunteers who support patients with dementia or cognitive impairment on acute hospital wards: the NURTURe model
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Managing volunteers who support patients with dementia or cognitive impairment on acute hospital wards: the NURTURe model

Liz Charalambous Teaching associate, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, England

Why you should read this article
  • To expand your knowledge of formal and informal volunteer management models

  • To increase your awareness of the challenges posed by managing volunteers on acute hospital wards

  • To prompt you to reflect on the approach to volunteer management in your clinical setting

Volunteers are widely used to support patients with dementia or cognitive impairment on acute hospital wards. However, it appears that traditional volunteer management models do not fully address the challenges posed by managing volunteers in that setting. In a study of the use of volunteers in the care of people with dementia and cognitive impairment on acute hospital wards, interviews with a range of stakeholders revealed challenges regarding the environment, role and image of volunteers. Based on the study findings, an alternative model for managing volunteers on acute hospital wards was developed. This article describes the study and discusses the development of this alternative approach, the NURTURe model.

Nursing Management. doi: 10.7748/nm.2021.e1981

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

@lizcharalambou

Correspondence

liz.charalambous1@nottingham.ac.uk

Conflict of interest

None declared

Charalambous L (2021) Managing volunteers who support patients with dementia or cognitive impairment on acute hospital wards: the NURTURe model. Nursing Management. doi: 10.7748/nm.2021.e1981

Published online: 16 February 2021

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