So why are more than 70 local teenagers signing up to spend their spare time at Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose? The answer can be found in a new hospital patient-services program called Students Making Illness a Little Easier. Launched in June, the SMILE program is already winning praise from patients, hospital staff and the volunteers themselves.

According to Mary McCall, Good Samaritan's director of patient volunteer services, "Our hospital administrators and nursing staff worked together to assess patient needs and find opportunities to increase patient satisfaction, and the SMILE program was a result." McCall, who directs the SMILE program, has been involved with Volunteer Services and Senior Friends programs at Good Samaritan for eight years.

The hospital has a long-standing tradition of volunteer services, including newspaper and floral deliveries, assistance with patient admission and discharge activities and other administrative support. The SMILE program was created to promote more direct interaction with and assistance for patients in the hospital's medical oncology, cardiovascular and surgical/orthopedic/neurological care units.

"Patients in these units often are seriously ill or debilitated, requiring lengthy hospital stays," said McCall, "and they can really benefit from added services and the companionship of volunteers."

One patient, who has been in and out of the hospital for the past year, said the SMILE program "is so relevant to people with long-term illness, because the days are long and the smiles and sincerity of these young teens are so appreciated."

"The SMILE program gives us a wonderful opportunity to enhance a truly high-tech, high-touch environment for our patients," said Bill Piche, CEO at Good Samaritan Hospital. "It is also another great way for students to directly engage in the support of our patient-services programs."

Students interested in joining the year-round SMILE program must make a one-year, 150-hour commitment to service. The application process is rigorous. Along with a formal application, students are interviewed one on one and asked to write about their reasons for volunteering. To be accepted into the program, students must also provide their report card and a teacher recommendation.

"Our volunteers must demonstrate academic stability," said McCall, "and above and beyond that, they need to be outgoing and willing to move beyond their comfort zone."

Before conducting their first round of patient visits, SMILE volunteers participate in a training program that covers specific duties, hospital policies for everything from infection control to emergency procedures in case of fire and, above all, protocol for working with patients.

Volunteers wear brightly colored polo shirts as part of their uniform, and they work three-hour shifts, working in pairs and visiting each patient's room twice during a shift. They take along a supply cart festooned with yellow "smiley face" balloons and stocked with magazines, tissues, note paper, decks of cards and games.

The heart of the SMILE program is the interaction that takes place from the time these teens knock on a patient's door and say "Hello, we're with the SMILE program, can we come in?" to the time they check the last detail and say good bye to the final patient on their shift roster.

"When patients aren't in the mood to talk, sometimes they just want privacy, and we respect that," said Angela Yung of Saratoga. "But sometimes we ask a few questions to see what they might need, and they open up and start talking."

"We update their white boards with information about schedules and nurses on duty, make sure everything in the room is in working order and see if they need anything special," said Angela. "Sometimes it's just as simple as showing them how to adjust their beds or use their call buttons to communicate with the nurse's station."

Teens join the SMILE program for a variety of reasons.

According to Angela, "I joined the SMILE program because I want to be a social worker some day, and here I get to know people and help them feel more comfortable."

Teens from Good Samaritan's regular volunteer program are opting to join the SMILE program. For Rachael Kolander of Los Gatos, it was a natural fit. "I would like to be a doctor and go into neurology. The first day in the SMILE program is hard, because you're not always sure what to do or say, but with each patient visit it gets easier."

Rachael is a shift leader in the SMILE program. When asked what it takes to succeed in the SMILE program, she was quick to respond. "This is something you have to want to do," says Rachael. "You have to have a positive attitude. We just make small conversation, and patients often joke around with us. They are happy to have someone to talk to or just someone to help them with their food tray."

When a patient was recuperating, immobile, after hip-replacement surgery, one volunteer got nail polish from the hospital store and offered to give her a pedicure. "It was just a little thing," she said, but it "lifted [her] spirits tremendously."

For SMILE volunteer Brian Tsai of Saratoga, "I joined the program to meet people and improve my communication skills, but I'm learning a lot more. Patients have shared many interesting stories, often with a moral. One patient talked of his experiences in World War II which were amazing."

Ironically, the volunteers often feel they're getting a helping hand from the patients.

"Patients have helped us with advice and tips about staying in school, staying healthy and following our dreams," said Sarah Moody of San Jose. "Sometimes their relatives can't visit, and watching TV is boring, so they welcome our visits."

One patient, Polly Howard, was intrigued with the program. "This is a wonderful, very positive program. The energy of these young people is a big boost. I like the fact that it's a real-world program and not just textbook stuff."

"What a great idea," said patient Denis Hoye. "I have two daughters, and I'd like them to have this kind of opportunity to see how a hospital works and what the medical profession might be like and to understand health problems. These are very thoughtful kids."

For Charlotte DeMent, another patient, "My kids are grown now, but when they were teenagers, volunteer work helped them get through those crazy years and kept them level-headed and self-sufficient. It's a good experience that stays with them for the rest of their lives."

After just one month, the response to the SMILE program has been so positive that hospital administrators have encouraged McCall to expand the program into the emergency-room unit, to assist people during the admissions process.

All in all, Good Samaritan's new SMILE program seems not only a practical steppingstone for teens with an eye on a medical career, but also a little bit like "chicken soup for the hospital patient's soul." What better way to feed the soul than by providing creature comforts for people who'd rather be home than in the hospital?

Good Samaritan Hospital provides program information through its Volunteer Services office and to local area schools through the schools' guidance counselors and general communications to students and their families. The hospital accepts applications for review twice a year, in September and in April. For more information on the SMILE program, call 408.559.2345.