Is Volunteering "Worth It"?

Interesting article. Upon reading the question in the title, my answer was 'it depends'. When I graduated nursing school, many of us volunteered simply to make our resumes look better. We were volunteering to get a job. If you're volunteering to help your community, boost your skills and for personal fulfillment, then yes, it's definitely worth it! If you're volunteering simply to get a job, it may be a miserable experience where you're 'showing off' your skills to look good and it becomes a competition. However, I have a friend who's been volunteering at hospitals since 2011.....and still hasn't received a job offer. Is volunteering worth it........it depends. Back to the drawing board

"Mandatory volunteering" = oxymoron.

^ Yea, tell my nursing school that

Can schools make volunteering mandatory? Some students have full time jobs. No way would I stand for that.

Quote from BrandonLPNCan schools make volunteering mandatory? Some students have full time jobs. No way would I stand for that.

Just to clarify, my nursing school only asked for approx. 60 hours of volunteering. The volunteering I did after nursing school required from me more hours

Also we had some choice as to where we would volunteer, it didn't have to be in a hospital.

To be honest I think it's kind of overkill. If we are talking about volunteering during nursing school, I think that is a recipe for burnout because there is already so much nursing going on in the form of classes and clinical. I think that what really helped me get my first RN job-besides of course grades/references/ etc were my nursing related summer jobs and externships.Even as a nurse healthcare related volunteering absolutely DOES NOT seem like something someone should stress about doing...we already are immersed in that world for 36+ hours a week with chances at work to "show off" out skills. If anything, I think that volunteering outside of the healthcare realm would be a much more rewarding, varied and renewing experience.And last but not least, "mandatory" volunteering seems contradictory.

Mandatory volunteering does not make a better nurse. And I agree 'mandatory volunteering' is an oxymoron.

I didn't see anywhere in this article that volunteering has to be just in a medically oriented capacity. Volunteering is a generous and incredible way to give back. Volunteering at a soup kitchen, for a socially responsible group, in a political campaign or any other capacity is extremely gratifying. All the work I do now, as a retired nurse, is volunteer. The most hours I donate are for patient safety. I volunteer on councils, committees, advisory boards, boards of directors and I bring the patient's voice to these places. This may seem like nursing, and it is in a way, but there is no "boss" dictating what I do or say.....or how to go about my 'work'. I get to say what I think is important, and I am not a mouthpiece for an employer. This work is the greatest work of my entire life and I recommend it to anyone with a burning desire to make a difference in the patient experience of care and in healthcare in general.