Explore Volunteer Options to Prepare for a Nursing Career

Graduate nursing programs usually require a student's full dedication. Between hours of studying, students spend time in clinical settings to get hands-on patient care experience, making it critical that prospective students get a feel for working in health before committing to this kind of degree.

For 27-year-old Omonike Akinleye, that experience came in the form of volunteer work.

"When I was in undergrad, in about 2009, I started interning with local public health departments," says Akinleye. She volunteered in the Greensboro, Durham and Wilmington areas of North Carolina and focused on preventive health, helping organize community health fairs, conduct glucose screenings and do other basic health care work.

"I think it definitely solidified my dedication to the field," she says. Akinleye also believes it boosted her nursing applications, especially the essay portion.

"I talked a lot about my involvement in public health and how that has influenced my desire to work in community health," says Akinleye, who's now in an accelerated graduate nursing program at Johns Hopkins University for college graduates who do not have a nursing background.

[Boosta career in nursing with a graduate degree.]

The program at Hopkins -- Master of Science in Nursing: Entry Into Nursing -- is like many others that allow accountants, social workers or others in careers outside of nursing to get a graduate degree in the field in about two or three years.

Because students may have limited or no prior health experience, volunteering can help them stand out as applicants.

"We really want to make sure that the applicant is the best fit for an accelerated program," says Maureen O'Brien, associate dean for graduate programs in the Marquette University College of Nursing. "For them to be able to show us that they have some knowledge of the health care system or some experience and how that has impacted their decision to go into nursing is very helpful."

Nurses who have a bachelor's degree and are headed back to school for a master's can also benefit from volunteering, says Kathleen White, director for the master's Entry Into Nursing program at Johns Hopkins.

Those who want to enter a family nurse practitioner program but are currently working in adult care, "might want to think about volunteering at that point at a family practice clinic or something like that just to make sure in fact that you'll be interested in women's health and children," she says.

[Transitioninto nursing with an accelerated graduate degree.]

There are a variety of ways to get volunteer experience and health care training for a nursing career, experts say.

At community health clinics and hospitals, volunteers may greet patients in the waiting room or do clerical work, such as filing or answering phones, says White.

Applicants can also do similar volunteer work at nursing homes or assisted living facilities, which can be a great training ground for improving soft skills that are needed in nursing, she says.

In these settings, volunteers may spend significant time chatting with or reading to elderly residents.

"In a way, it's establishing and working on your interpersonal relationship skills," says White. "That's extremely important in health care so that you're able to establish a relationship with your patients, in order to be able to get the best information from them."

In other health care settings, volunteers may also interact with the youngest of patients.

"Some places have opportunities, for example, for you to go to the playroom in a children's hospital and play with the kids. Some neonatal intensive care units have opportunities for volunteers to come and rock babies," says O'Brien.

[Find outwhich schools have top nursing master's programs.]

Other nursing applicants may get training to be a specific type of health care assistant, such as a doula, says Angela Amar, an associate professor and assistant dean for BSN education at the Emory University Woodruff School of Nursing. "You have some understanding that that's the person who's like a layperson that works with people through their pregnancy," she says.

Nursing applicants can start searching for opportunities in their backyards, experts say.

"Prospective students could start where they are," says White. She suggests they check with their local hospital, community health clinic or chamber of commerce to learn of opportunities.

Also, Veterans Affairs hospitals can be a good place to volunteer, says O'Brien.

Akinleye, the student from Johns Hopkins, recommends aspiring nurses see what opportunities they can find through Volunteers for America and check the website for the Health Resources and Services Administration.

She was focused on a career in medicine as an undergrad at North Carolina A&T State University but later realized that nursing was her calling, making a career decision that can be tough for those who want to work in health care.

"I wanted to be able to be a health care provider that can spend quality time and build relationships with my patients," she says. "I know that oftentimes physicians -- the patient load they have is a lot so they don't get to spend as much time with their patients as they probably would like to, and I just feel like nurses get that connection and they get that time with their patients."

For more in-depth rankings, searchable data and an expanded directory of programs, sign up for the U.S. News Nursing School Compass.

Delece Smith-Barrow is an education reporter at U.S. News, covering graduate schools. You can follow her on Twitter or email her at dsmithbarrow@usnews.com.