Volunteer opportunities

What is Child Life?

Animal-assisted therapy or dog therapy

This program brings in dogs certified by the Delta Society or Therapy Dogs International to visit with patients on the inpatient units and in the clinics. Learn more about the certification requirements.

Inpatient units

Center 3-Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: This unit is designed for individualized care of critically ill newborns and their families from admission to discharge. Please note: Due to staffing changes, we are currently not recruiting for this unit.

Center 7-General medical unit: Patients from infancy to adolescent hospitalized for general med needs usually requiring a brief hospital observation.

Center 7 Neonatal Progressive Care Unit: This unit is designed for the care of the critically ill newborns. This is an extension of the NICU. As the infant's condition improves, infants may be transferred to this unit. Please note: Due to staffing changes, we are currently not recruiting for this unit.

East 5-Hematology, Oncology, Transplant: This is the cancer and bone marrow transplant unit. Patients stay an average of four to five days, and bone marrow transplant patients stay an average of 38-40 days.

East 8-Hematology, Oncology, and Immunology: This unit cares for patients with cardiac, hematology, immunodeficiency and oncology disorders.

West 3, 4, 5 Critical Care Units

West 3 – Cardiac Critical Care Unit: This unit is an intensive care unit where staff provides admission-to-discharge care for children with known heart problems requiring surgical or medical management.
West 4- Medical/Surgical Pediatric Critical Care Unit: This unit is a multispecialty intensive care unit. Nurses here care for the immediate needs of patients who have just undergone surgery and require intensive breathing management and monitoring.
West 5-Medical/Surgical Pediatric Critical Care Unit: Children on this unit may be recovering from diabetic ketoacidosis, sepsis, respiratory illness or other problems requiring intensive medical management including those with special needs.

West 9, 10, 11 Acute Care Units

West 9 Surgical Unit: This is an acute care unit. The patient focus is general surgery, burns and urology.
West 10 Surgical Unit: This is an acute care unit. Patients here include orthopedic and orthopedic spinal fusion, plastic and ear/nose/throat surgery or those recovering from trauma.
West 11 Medical Unit: This is an acute care unit that cares for general medical patients with a focus on gastroenterology, endocrine/diabetes, cystic fibrosis, pulmonary and adolescent eating disorders.

Day Surgery

The Day Surgery Unit is an outpatient surgical unit that provides care before and after surgery, heart catherizations, radiology procedures and radiation therapy. Although the majority of patients are discharged the day of their procedure, some are admitted to critical or acute care units. The unit has 33 beds, which includes seven beds for children who stay overnight for 23 hours or less.

Surgery waiting room

Families wait here while there child is in surgery. Volunteers serve as a resource person for families, to help them find where to eat, restrooms, etc. and take family members to the recovery room to meet their child after surgery.

Check out how families and patients get ready for surgery at Children's.

EDTC (Emergency Room)

The Emergency Department/Trauma Center provides around-the-clock emergency care for children with all types of illnesses and injuries. The Emergency Department is the starting point for many of the inpatient admissions to Children's Hospital.

Radiology

The department offers services including vascular examinations, gastrointestinal studies, ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging, interventional radiology, fluoroscopy, computed tomography, nuclear medicine, X-ray, CT/PET scan, EOS low-dose radiation scanner and interventional procedures.

Physical and Occupational Therapy-Open only to students studying PT/OT

Physical therapy staff specializes in pediatrics and uses approaches to treatment that are age appropriate. The goal of physical therapy is to promote normal development and independent functioning. Staff provide services to inpatients and outpatients with problems related, but not limited to:

Dysfunction of the musculoskeletal (orthopedics) system.
Neuromuscular.
Cardiopulmonary (pulmonary/respiratory) system.
Lower extremity limb deficiency.
Oncology (cancers).
Rheumatic diseases.
Burns.
Head injury.
Developmental delay.
Failure to thrive.
Neonatal complications.

Occupational therapy staff provides evaluation and treatment of children with congenital or acquired physical, psychological, sensory or perceptual dysfunction. Services are provided on an inpatient and outpatient basis to patients with problems related, but not limited to:

Developmental problems.
Social/psychological difficulties.
Upper extremity limb deficiency.
Cardiopulmonary (pulmonary/respiratory) system.
Oncology (cancers).
Rheumatic diseases.
Burns.
Head Injury.
Neonatal complications.

Welcome Centers

The centers greet and direct patients, parents and hospital visitors. Welcome center ambassadors direct families and to route them to their destination by use of computer terminal search or hospital directory.

Gift Shop

Children's Hospital's Gift Shop offers a wide variety of products to help brighten the day of hospitalized patients. With gifts for every age, volunteers help customize gifts and deliver the items directly to the patient. The Gift Shop is run by dedicated volunteers between the hours of 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m Monday through Friday. Take a look at what our Gift Shop has to offer.

The Daniel M. Soref Family Resource Center

The Daniel M. Soref Family Resource Center offers parent-to-parent support, information, referrals and helps connect families to community resources. Staff is trained to help children, young adults and family members find answers to questions about local resources, support groups, funding options and more. Learn more.

Sibling Care

This program provides toddlers, preschool and school-age siblings of inpatient and Day Surgery patients of Children's Hospital of Wisconsin an opportunity for safe and supportive activities in a supervised environment. Sibling Care is open Monday through Friday from noon to 8 pm.

Expressive Arts Therapy Program

Art speaks when words cannot. The Expressive Arts Therapy Program at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin helps patients and their families express their thoughts and emotions through art. The program goes beyond arts and crafts projects and into the imagination for creative stimulation, communication and coping with art rooms located on Center 8 and in the MACC fund Clinic. Learn more.

Distribution

Volunteers assist Distribution staff by providing distributing transport supplies, equipment, wheelchairs, paper related items, floral/cookie/balloon arrangements and mail.

Clinics

At Children's Hospital, more than 70 specialty clinics provide outpatient diagnosis and treatment for a wide variety of pediatric disorders. These positions are mostly filled by volunteers who are studying the field. Specialty clinics include:

Child Protection Center

Children's Hospital's Child Protection Center provides assessments to children who may have been harmed. The goal of the center is to protect children from abuse and provide resources to help them heal. This center is located near the Marquette University Campus. Learn more.

Requirements:

Able and comfortable to supervise children of all ages (birth-18)
Independent and take initiative
Actively engaged with patients in our waiting area
Willing to do office tasks if no children are present with little direction

Please note: This is an overview of some of our volunteer placements. Not all positions may be available at the time of your orientation and interview. Placement is based on our need and your availability. All volunteers are placed on a first come, first served basis.

Groups

Due to infection control, patient confidentiality and the extensive training and medical requirements for long-term and summer program volunteer placements, we are unable to accept volunteer group inquiries through the Volunteer Services Department.

Children's Hospital and Health System Foundation offers opportunities appropriate for group volunteering, most often related to events in the community. Learn more.

If you are interested in providing entertainment for our patients and families, visit the special entertainment visits web page.