COVID-19 Update: Volunteering opportunities are continuing at Royal Victoria Hospital for current volunteers. Due to the second wave of COVID-19, the ICU Bridge Program is operating at a reduced capacity and volunteering has temporarily stopped at the Montreal General Hospital. Please check your email for important information about additional training, requirements, and safety measures.
*In order to continue our mission of humanizing healthcare during a time with reduced volunteering, we have launched a PPE Portrait Project. For more information, click here!
The ICU Bridge Program provides university students with the opportunity to volunteer and shadow in the ICU. Not only does this help visitors in these vulnerable times, but the experiences gained by our volunteers will help shape our future healthcare practitioners.
Hospitals
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Montreal General Hospital
Jewish General Hospital
Montreal Children's Hospital
Royal Victoria Hospital
ICU Journals
An ICU journal is an electronic journal documenting the patient’s stay at the ICU. It is not a medical record, but a ledger to which family members and ICU staff may contribute thoughts that they feel may later be helpful to the patient. Diary entries are typically written by visitors or nurses, with the help of ICU Bridge Program volunteers. They may include:
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Wishes and reflections from visitors
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Pictures of the patient's progress
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A video of the patient's first steps
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Simple everyday events such as updates from the family, the weather outside, sports news…
The ICU Bridge Program volunteers will assist in managing journal entries by providing a tablet to interested families and showing them how the diary application works (how to access the appropriate journal, how to add photos/videos/audio recordings, etc).