The Heart of a Healer: Jacqueline Arroliga’s Extraordinary Journey From Volunteer to Nurse Leader

What began as a volunteer position at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford turned a lifelong calling for Jacqueline Arroliga, now a cost nurse within the Maternity Unit. Her story of compassion, perseverance, and dedication proves that even the smallest acts of kindness can form a profession and alter lives. When Jacqueline Arroliga first stepped by way of the doorways of Lucile Packard Youngsters’s Hospital in 2009, she didn’t know she was strolling into her future. A UC Berkeley graduate with a level in Molecular Environmental Biology, she was trying to find readability, unsure whether or not her path would result in medical college or nursing.

In 2009, she started volunteering within the New child Listening to Program within the Maternity Unit, hoping to get firsthand perception into affected person care. The next 12 months, she bought her first job on the Data Desk in 2010—however she didn’t cease volunteering. The truth is, it was throughout this time that she transitioned into the Buddy Program, persevering with to spend her evenings with pediatric sufferers after her day shifts on the Data Desk.

Her experiences as a Buddy opened her eyes to a facet of healthcare she hadn’t anticipated: many youngsters spent lengthy hours—generally days—within the hospital with out household at their bedside, not out of neglect however attributable to life’s circumstances. Dad and mom had different youngsters to look after, jobs to maintain, and lengthy distances to journey.

One youngster modified all the things for her—a five-year-old boy from the oncology unit. Jacqueline met him by way of the Buddy Program but in addition noticed him incessantly throughout her Data Desk shifts when he would arrive along with his mom. He spoke solely Spanish, however the connection they fashioned was instantaneous. They bonded over card video games and easy conversations. In the future, he appeared up at her and stated, “Younger woman, go on and paint your nails.” She laughed and promised she would. The following time she noticed him, her nails have been painted, and he lit up with pleasure.

Later, his mom returned to the hospital alone. She discovered Jacqueline on the Data Desk, her eyes crammed with tears, and thanked her for the time she had spent together with her son—as a result of he had handed away. That second stayed with Jacqueline.

“That second modified me,” she says. “It confirmed all the things—I needed to be the one that
introduced consolation and care, even within the hardest instances.”

Decided to comply with her coronary heart, Jacqueline enrolled in nursing college on the College of San Francisco. On the similar time, she transitioned right into a aid place as an Workplace Assistant in Volunteer Companies, serving to place and onboard new volunteers whereas supporting herself by way of college. She additionally transitioned her personal volunteering to the Cuddler Program, giving consolation to infants when their mother and father couldn’t be current.

“Going to high school full-time whereas working was arduous,” she admits, “however I wouldn’t have been capable of do it with out the assistance of my superb supervisor, Maryellen Brady, who gave me the pliability I wanted.”
In 2014, Jacqueline was accepted into the New Grad Program at LPCH and started her skilled
nursing profession within the Maternity Unit—a spot she has referred to as residence ever since. The early days have been
difficult. Studying the tempo, strain, and precision of bedside care took all the things she had. However she pushed by way of, leaned on her mentors, and saved displaying up with coronary heart and humility.

Immediately, Jacqueline is a scientific nurse IV, one of many cost nurses, co-lead of the Maternity High quality
Enchancment Committee, and native apply coordinator lead of the Maternity Shared Governance. She shouldn’t be solely a nurse—she is a mentor, an advocate, and a pacesetter deeply dedicated to her workforce and her sufferers.

“I’ve seen each stage of nursing in my unit, and it’s given me a singular perspective. I wish to lead in a
method that strengthens my workforce—the place we make choices collectively and uplift each other, even on the busiest days.”

Trying again, Jacqueline credit each step—each volunteer shift, each workplace position, each late-night
examine session—with making ready her for this work.

“You by no means know what somebody goes by way of,” she displays. “That’s probably the most worthwhile lesson I’ve
realized. At all times lead with kindness.”

To these contemplating volunteering or exploring a profession in well being care, her recommendation is evident:
“Put your self within the setting. Expertise it firsthand. A shared giggle, a comforting presence, a
painted nail—all of it issues. It would simply change your life, prefer it did mine.”

This Volunteer Appreciation Week (April 20-27) and Nurses Week (Might 6-12), we honor Jacqueline
Arroliga and the numerous people who dedicate their time, talent, and coronary heart to the care of others.
From volunteers who deliver heat into hospital rooms to nurses who stroll alongside households of their
most weak moments, you’re the heartbeat of Stanford Medicine Children’s Health.

Thanks for all that you simply do.

Learn more about Volunteer Services at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health >