Volunteer or Observer? 

Which is the right fit for me?

 

Observing/shadowing:  If you are looking to shadow/observe a Johns Hopkins Health System staff member, you should apply for an observership.  Onboarding for Observership is an easier and faster to process than for being a volunteer. Observers can observe for up to 100 hours over 12 months and can watch and ask questions.  They may not touch patients or assist/help staff.   JHHS Policy states that all shadowing at a JHHS facility (even less than a day) is to be done as an observership, unless it is part of a credentialed learning curriculum.   For more information on observerships or to submit an application, please visit this site. https://volunteerservices.jhmi.edu/pages/OBSINFO

 

Volunteering: Volunteers provide a service that extends what staff or departments can do without a volunteer.  Volunteers should spend the vast majority of their time in service not observing - we aim for 95% of time spent on service tasks.  Volunteers are not limited in the number of hours of service or duration of the volunteering relationship.  Volunteers can do many task activities that make the hospital experience better for patients, families, visitors and staff, but may not provide clinical care.  Volunteers are background checked and do a full vaccination/health screening including a drug test. For a list of our current opportunities, visit https://volunteerservices.jhmi.edu/pages/JHHOPEN

 

Notes: 

  • We do not place volunteers or observers in units/supervised by family members serves to ensure that all observers/volunteers receive appropriate direction, tasking, supervision and opportunities.   We also prohibit staff from serving as a volunteer/observer within their department of employment for the same reasons.
  • It is possible to be both a volunteer and an observer in our system.  People doing so are required to logging hours separately and appropriatly for each role.  However, because of rules differences for the two roles we typically do not allow overlapping observerships and volunteerism in the same department.