"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around." -Leo Buscaglia.

Capital Caring is one of the leading and largest hospice care providers in the country and we continue to remain one of the best.  In order to provide world-class care and support to our patients and their families, Capital Caring is always on the lookout for dedicated, compassionate volunteers to join our dynamic Volunteer Team.  Although we have many different volunteer positions available with Capital Caring, we are currently recruiting specialized volunteers to provide much needed socialization, companionship, and support for our patients who live at NMS Healthcare of Hyattsville - our largest contracted facility in Prince George's County.  Our interdisciplinary team, including our trained hospice volunteers, provides expert pain and symptom management for each of our patients, addressing physical, psychosocial, spiritual, and emotional aspects of their illness, to allow them to enjoy the remaining time that they have with their family, friends, and loved ones as comfortable as possible.

Our overarching goal is to improve the quality of care that we offer to our patients and their families, priding ourselves with a Volunteer Patient Care Team that provides meaningful patient-volunteer interactions on a consistent basis. Our wonderful Patient Care Volunteers commit to visiting our patients an average of 4-6 hours/month, ensuring they provide both the patient and their family with the attention they deserve during this extremely difficult time.  All of our Patient Care Volunteers at NMS Healthcare of Hyattsville are given the support and resources they need to provide each patient with fruitful visits, utilizing our company care cart filled with sensory stimulation items during each visit and turning to staff for additional education and support as needed.  This facility is open 7 days a week with flexible visiting hours, allowing each of our volunteers to coordinate visits that are most convenient with their schedule.

Capital Caring is looking for caring, compassionate individuals and their certified Pet Partners to provide stimulating companionship visits for our hospice patients at NMS Healthcare of Hyattsville.  While some of our hospice patients have families or friends that may visit, the majority of our patients at NMS Healthcare do not - only receiving interactions with staff members throughout the day.  Capital Caring recognizes the emotional benefits associated with interacting with animals and we are eager to evoke these emotional responses in our hospice patients, reducing their levels of stress and depression by enjoying a visit from a furry friend. We strive to make the lives of our hospice patients as full and rich as possible, and we know that our patients will truly enjoy and look forward to visits from a new four-legged friend.

A great deal of satisfaction comes from contributing to the well-being of others. Hospice Volunteers are one of the few who can make a true difference in someone's life by offering a small portion of their time, energy, and skills. Our volunteers have the opportunity to apply their talents and expertise in fields different from their usual work, and for some, volunteering may lead to a career change.

Capital Caring is grateful for the support volunteers provide to our hospice patients and their families throughout this difficult time.  Among many other benefits and opportunities, we provide our patient care volunteers with hospice, palliative care, and end-of-life education, patient care trainings, and continuous opportunities for educational in-services.  All of our patient care volunteers receive mileage reimbursement of .50 cents/mile (with no maximums!), accidental insurance coverage, and liability insurance coverage. 

If you are interested in learning more about this rewarding opportunity to become one of our trained hospice volunteers, please contact our Volunteer Services Coordinator, Allison Kuchar, at (301)808-5668 or through email at [email protected].

In addition, please feel free to visit our website at www.capitalcaring.org/volunteers so you can learn more about our organization and offered services, our dynamic Volunteer Department, and our wide-range of volunteer opportunities. Apply today to become a Capital Caring Volunteer!

"You matter because you are you, and you matter to the end of your life."

-Dame Cicely Saunders

"It is not the strength of the body that counts, but the strength of the spirit."

-J.R.R. Tolkien