Ambiguity: exploring the complexity of roles and boundaries when working with volunteers in well woman clinics

Recently in the United Kingdom there has been a focus on strengthening the participation of volunteers in the National Health Service (NHS), particularly within primary health care services. Despite this focus, the challenges and opportunities of collaborative working between volunteer and paid workers has been under explored. Drawing on the findings from an ethnographic study, the concept of ambiguity is used to illuminate the complexity of roles and boundaries when working with volunteers in community well woman clinics. The findings are based on data collected during an eighteen month period of participant observation, interviews with 26 volunteer and paid workers and a review of the clinics' operational policy documents. Recognising the ambiguous position of volunteers in formal organisations is central to gaining an insight into their experiences of volunteering and into their relationships with paid workers. Volunteers within formal organisations are likely to experience role ambiguity, as often roles and expectations may not be clearly differentiated. Additionally, volunteering within formal organisations is inherently contradictory, as it is both work and a leisure pursuit. A lack of understanding as to which element, either work or leisure, is being emphasised can lead to tensions in relationships between volunteer and paid workers. Learning to work with ambiguity is central to being able to work effectively with volunteers and strategies for managing ambiguity are proposed.