What should I say? My volunteer manager wants...?

Question

On Monday, my sister and I messed up a work at our volunteering place..The ER.. (in a hospital). It wasn't a big deal. We stamped the wrong paper, and the secretary had to do all over. Unfortunately, the secretary called the volunteer manager and told her how terrible my sister and I did on the job. It was only one job. It's not like my sister and I mess up many jobs that we were ordered to do.

The volunteer manager told me that she will let my sister and me go to other places to volunteer. The thing is I don't want to move. I want to stay in the ER. I messed up the work only one time, that doesn't mean I will mess up again. I will learn from my mistake.

The good news is my sister and I do get along with the nurses in the ER. Should I tell the nurses to speak to the volunteering manager?

What should I say so the volunteer manager can allow me to stay in the ER?

I really want to stay in the ER because it has the best clinical experience. (for a volunteer like me).

Answer 1

An ER is not the place where you can make mistakes.... even what you think are little ones. It shows that you are not paying attention to detail.

The point of having volunteers is to take the workload off of the staff and to give you work experience but in your case the staff had to redo everything that you did. This made her angry because you did not listen to instructions she does not want to take the chance that this will happen again. It defeats the purpose of having a volunteer.... which is something they are not required to do.

I would not involve the paid staff either. This is their job and they are not going to risk their jobs or their patients for the sake of volunteers.

Answer 2

The first thing you should to is to apologize to the secretary for the mistake.  It's not like you did it on purpose.  Then talk with the voluteer manager about it.  The manager, in order to be fair to everyone, should hear both sides of the story.  It's not as though anyone died because of this mishap.  Even nurses and doctors make mistakes which can be far more serious.

Answer 3

"I really want to stay in the ER because it has the best clinical experience. (for a volunteer like me)"

so what's really your reason for volunteering? do you do this because you want the experience or you feel the need to help? the way your manager treated you is one thing.. your desire to stay in the ER is another.. when you volunteer, you should be willing to be assigned to a place where you can be of most help..  if you want to be treated nicely, join a faith-based volunteer program..