Volunteer Experiences of Pediatric Palliative Care among University Students: A Phenomenological Approach

PURPOSE: This phenomenological analysis was conducted to explore the experiences of college student volunteers in the field of pediatric palliative care. METHODS: In-depth interviews were conducted with nine study participants who had experience volunteering with children receiving pediatric palliative care. The study analysis was conducted using the Colaizzi method, a rigorous qualitative research method, to develop “intra-group” comparisons among the study participants. RESULTS: Through an analysis of the data, 51 themes, 18 theme clusters, and five main categories were derived. The results confirmed that the experience of university student volunteers in pediatric palliative care can be summarized as “awareness of the role of a volunteer,” “difficulties encountered while volunteering,” “efforts to overcome the difficulties of volunteer work,” “personal reflection,” and “awareness of life and death.” CONCLUSION: The results of this study can be used as a practical guide for the effective management of volunteers in the pediatric palliative care setting.