COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Patients at Riverside Methodist Hospital are getting an extra dose of care and attention thanks to a new program.
NBC 4's Ana Jackson spoke to retired nurses who are getting a second chance to put their skills to use.
After 39 years of working as a nurse at Riverside, Barb Wears returned as a volunteer. But she faced many limitations.
"The patient would say, 'I need the bathroom. I need the bathroom.' And I would have to say, 'I'm sorry. I'm a volunteer. I can't do that for you. But I will go find somebody.' I would go out in the hall (and) the nurses are all busy. The techs are all busy," Wears said.
But thanks to a new program geared toward Registered Nurses, the barriers are gone.
"Now, in this program, the patient says, 'I have to go to the bathroom.' I say, 'I can help you do that,'" Wears said.
Riverside launched the RN Volunteer program last July. It allows retired RNs to do more duties than the typical volunteer.
"There's a large need when you look at the complex patient population that we deal with every day in the hospital," said Michelle Rubertino, a clinical nurse specialist.
Volunteers are trained to brush up on skills like CPR before they begin working.
Wears works once a week. She gets to choose her hours and said the experience is stress free.
"You can be with patients again. You can have less responsibility but more love for why you probably went into nursing in the first place," Wears said.
Riverside is looking for many more RN volunteers. Anyone interested is asked to call 614-566-2669.
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