Volunteer Satisfaction Survey for Healthcare
- Roseanna Galindo, CCBA, CAVS
- 12 minutes ago
- 6 min read
Why Measuring the Volunteer Experience Matters More Than Ever
Volunteers have long enhanced the human experience of healthcare. They offer presence, comfort, and support in ways that extend well beyond traditional staffing models. But as hospitals navigate chronic workforce shortages, rising patient acuity, and expanding expectations for the patient experience, volunteers are increasingly stepping into roles that directly influence quality, satisfaction, and access.
And yet, while healthcare leaders measure nearly every other operational, clinical, and experiential outcome imaginable, one critical data point is still consistently overlooked in the standardized collection of healthcare data: the volunteer experience itself.
Understanding how volunteers perceive their roles, support structures, and contributions isn’t a nicety. It’s a strategic necessity. Volunteer experience data directly shapes retention, performance, and the patient experience.
This is where a well-designed volunteer satisfaction survey for healthcare becomes essential. The Volunteer Satisfaction Index is such a tool. Over the past 20 years, the VSI has been proven reliable and valid across the globe and across nonprofit industries. In healthcare, the VSI recently made an appearance in patient experience related research that was measuring volunteer satisfaction in healthcare navigation roles.
Why Volunteer Satisfaction Needs Rigorous Measurement in Healthcare
Healthcare volunteers aren’t employees. Fundamental to the understanding of unpaid labor is that they approach the work of their own volition. They participate neither out of economic nor social necessity. This shapes motivations as well as expectations.
The engagement of volunteers depends on a delicate balance of autonomy, support, purpose, and connection.
It's a leadership feat that requires a constellation of skills and acumen. Nonprofit volunteer management deserves its own occupational job code. Thankfully there are professional associations that offer body-of-knowledge credentials that recognize this unique skills set for what it is. Both the Certified Administrator of Volunteer Services (CAVS) and Certified Volunteer Administrator (CVA) credentials validate this unique body of work.
The measurement of volunteer experience needs to be added to litany of healthcare data being collected. This is especially true today, as many hospitals increasingly rely on roles like non-clinical patient navigation to fill critical gaps.
Growing Emphasis on Non-Clinical Patient Navigation
Across the country, more healthcare organizations, especially those in rural and resource-stretched regions, are expanding non-clinical patient navigation roles to
address barriers in access, coordination, and communication. Volunteers are answering phones, supporting appointment reminders, conducting wayfinding, offering emotional support, and helping patients interpret next steps.
These roles don’t replace clinical staff; they enhance their capacity by shifting key but time-consuming non-clinical tasks to trained volunteers.
As these responsibilities expand, so does the need for structured, evidence-based measurement of volunteer satisfaction to ensure volunteers feel supported enough to thrive without becoming overwhelmed.
Don't Rely on Employee Surveys or Homegrown Tools
If you’re convinced the experience of volunteers needs measurement, you might think about modifying a survey that Human Resources has used. Or maybe your tempted to create a survey from scratch. There are many fundamental measurement issues with either of those options that affect data integrity.
Unlike paid staff, volunteers contribute based on intrinsic motivation. Asking them the wrong questions, or measuring their experience with tools not designed for volunteerism, creates misleading data that obscures real risks in retention and support.
A volunteer satisfaction survey for healthcare must be able to measure many facets, including:
Emotional and structural support
Preparedness and clarity of expectations
Ability to meaningfully contribute to patient experience goals
Autonomy balanced with appropriate boundaries
Belonging within both volunteer teams and clinical units
These elements have been demonstrated in the volunteer experience research to directly impact volunteer engagement and retention.
The Four Dimensions That Matter Most in Healthcare Volunteer Satisfaction
Volunteer Satisfaction is a multi-faceted construct. The research guiding the development of the VSI resulted in the emergence of four core dimensions. These four aspects continue to be the primary drivers of volunteer satisfaction across time, space, and industry, including healthcare.
1. Organizational Support
2. Participation Efficacy
3. Empowerment
4. Group Integration
These dimensions reflect the lived experience of volunteers who support clinical and operational teams.
A Volunteer Satisfaction Survey for Healthcare Drives Decisions
Trustworthy measurement of volunteer experience is a tool for data driven decisions. One of the clearest illustrations of this comes from a robust patient visitation program I once organized. These volunteers rounded autonomously using a 4-P’s script to proactively meet patient needs. The volunteers' sense of autonomy fueled high satisfaction early on. Volunteers felt empowered and effective. However, around the nine-month mark, our retention data began to slip.
The issue wasn’t role clarity or purpose. It was isolation. While volunteers loved the independence of the Ambassador role, they didn’t love feeling like they were doing it alone. Volunteer Satisfaction Index survey data revealed lower scores in the Group Integration and Support dimensions for this role, when compared with volunteers as a whole. This survey information helped us understand that while autonomy was a strength, it needed to be balanced with connection.
This data insight led me to redesign the onboarding as a cohort model, waiting until 6–8 Ambassadors were ready to train together. From there, we created monthly touchpoints during their onboarding period. That small shift which was rooted directly in what the data told us, improved retention dramatically while preserving the autonomy that made the role so meaningful.
How Does Volunteer Satisfaction Data Strengthen Healthcare Operations
When hospitals measure volunteer satisfaction with rigor, they gain operational insight in areas such as:
Training adequacy
Staff–volunteer communication
Emotional safety
Burnout signals
Retention risks
Role alignment with PX strategy
Workforce pipeline patterns
It also helps leaders understand where volunteer roles either support or inadvertently strain workflow.
Common Pitfalls (and How to Avoid Them)
Even well-meaning healthcare leaders fall into the same traps year after year:
Creating surveys based on instinct rather than evidence
Using employee surveys for volunteers
Asking leading or irrelevant questions
Measuring satisfaction only once
Failing to use results for operational decisions
A Mini Cautionary Tale from My Leadership Experience
Years ago, in one hospital (I’ll keep it anonymous), a colleague of mine created a homegrown volunteer survey to “quickly check morale.” The intentions were good, but the tool wasn’t. The questions centered on appreciation events, parking, and snack availability while ignoring core drivers of volunteer engagement such as clarity of communication, autonomy, and perceived impact.
The results came back glowing but within months, volunteer retention plummeted. She later learned that volunteers didn’t feel prepared for their roles, struggled with inconsistent staff communication, and didn’t feel equipped to handle difficult patient interactions. None of that appeared in the survey because it wasn’t designed to measure the right constructs.
It was a painful reminder that asking the wrong questions creates the illusion of satisfaction while real risks go undetected. Avoiding these pitfalls requires validated tools like the Volunteer Satisfaction Index that ensure the data reflects reality, not assumptions. Writing good survey questions for quick pulse checks can be of value, but the limitations of the results must be grounded in reality.
Summary
Healthcare leaders understand the value of data. They make decisions based on metrics daily—capacity, throughput, HCAHPS, staffing, safety, efficiency, and financial performance. Adopting meaningful surveys in one step to improving data literacy in healthcare organizations.
Volunteerism should be no different.
A volunteer satisfaction survey designed specifically for healthcare doesn’t just measure feelings. When cross referenced against PX metrics, it tells a story about:
Workforce pipeline strength
Patient experience impact
Operational reliability
Volunteer readiness
Retention risk
Alignment to organizational goals
Volunteers are not ancillary. Volunteers are strategic contributors to access, capacity, and experience. Measuring their satisfaction with rigor isn’t optional. It’s foundational.
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Roseanna Galindo is Principal at Periscope Business Process Analysis, specializing in organizational learning and development. She is dedicated to advancing data literacy, enhancing healthcare experiences, and empowering nonprofit leaders.
Explore Roseanna’s expertise and insights on her blog, The Periscope Insighter, starting with the opening post.
Roseanna offers a range of professional development services, including training workshops, keynote speaking, and executive coaching.
Visit PeriscopeBPA.com for more information or click on the button below to schedule a time to talk
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