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Module 1: Volunteer Professionalism

Responsible Volunteering

To those in the community, volunteers are the face of the organizations that they represent. As ambassadors of a public health or nonprofit organization, volunteers must submit to the highest standards of professionalism. General elements of professional behavior include competence, proper dress and language, avoiding conflicts of interest, and appropriate relations with and respectful treatment of peers and collaborators. Volunteers must also obey any regulations, requirements, or recommendations of community centers or school in which they work. In addition to general professional conduct, volunteers working in the health field have specific medical standards of professionalism to follow.(1)

Fundamental professional principles

• Principle of privacy and welfare: Volunteers must act in the best interest of the community member, and not based on societal pressures or monetary incentive.
• Principle of patient autonomy: Patients’ decisions about their own health care are paramount, and volunteers must respect those decisions.
• Principle of social justice: Volunteers must not discriminate against or favor patients based on race, gender, socioeconomic status, religion, or any other social category.

Professional Volunteer Responsibilities

• Commitment to professional competence:  In order to be credible and effective, volunteers must be competent, dependable, punctual and conscientious.
• Commitment to honesty with patients: Patients must be completely and honestly informed before consenting to any health screening or procedure.
• Commitment to patient confidentiality: Volunteers must be trustworthy, and abide by rules governing patient confidentiality. 

The Importance of Training

“No matter what volunteers are expected to do, all nonprofits should set high standards out of respect to the people, places, and others we aim to assist”(2)

Volunteering should be a learning experience, but never at the expense of those we aim to serve.  Training is an essential part of ensuring that volunteers can provide quality services to those who need them, and training is also integral to ensuring that all volunteers for a single organization can work together based on common principles and with mutual understanding.  Rather than existing as a collection of individuals, well-trained volunteers can function as a group and can be far more effective than they would be otherwise.(3)(4)  Furthermore, and perhaps most importantly, “training demonstrates that the group/organization believes in a high standard of work.”(5)  Professionalism is a strict standard to which any organization should hold itself, especially an organization that aims to provide healthcare or educational services to those in need.  A good training program and the well-trained volunteers it produces are critical pieces of any organization’s quest to live up to its professional responsibilities.

The Function of Training(6)

• Lessens the probability of mistakes
• Teaches volunteers about the organization and their specific tasks
• Teaches volunteers about the broader context in which their work will function
• Increases personal skills and awareness
• Improves group skills and awareness
• Allows for a consistency in approach by different volunteers
• Promotes good continuity of methods over time
• Minimizes risk

Go To Module 2: The Problems of Unprofessionalism >>

Footnotes

Ethics and Professionalism Online Course

• Table of Contents
• Module 1
• Module 2
• Module 3
• Module 4
• Module 5