Nurses are one group of workers for whom holidays do not necessarily mean time off with family. Granted, some nurses have positions with regular business hours, and most physician offices and clinics close their doors during such times. However, nurses in home health and hospice, dialysis, acute care, rehab, long term care and assisted living, urgent care, the ED, and other milieus are never truly off the hook when it comes to working when others are home celebrating and relaxing.
Alone, Yet Not Alone
During the holidays, nurses aren’t alone in their need to still punch the virtual clock, of course. First responders are always on duty, as well as police officers and firefighters, not to mention those who work in hotels, restaurants, and other client-facing services. The show must go on despite everyone’s desire to be anywhere but at work.
Still, working on the holidays can feel quite sad for a nurse who’d rather be home sitting around the Christmas tree drinking hot cocoa with the kids, even when that nurse does her best to spread holiday cheer among fellow staff members and the patients who are themselves infirm and isolated. This is a case of being alone, yet not alone, and making the best of the situation.
So how can the holidays still be joyful in spite of not being where we’d truly rather be?
Making Do and Making Memories
If you’re a nurse who works on the same unit with the same group of colleagues month after month, a sense of community and belonging is often the result. While some staff members may stick to themselves, many likely place great stock in forming and maintaining warm bonds and camaraderie with those around them.
When the holidays arrive, certain staff members (you know who they are) go out of their way to decorate work spaces, bring in homemade treats to enjoy together, arrange a Secret Santa, or otherwise do their best to make the holidays as cheerful as possible, even on an acute care unit filled with the sick and compromised.
And while nurses and other healthcare facility staff may feel bereft to not be home with family on a particularly special day (e.g.: Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc.), those staff members are still able to sign off at the end of any shift and go home to their families, unlike patients who don’t have the privilege of walking out those doors when the day is done.
For some nurses, working on holidays means taking the time to go the extra mile and help patients to feel less lonely and isolated. Stories abound of nurses baking treats for patients, singing Christmas carols, and doing all manner of creative things to assuage patients’ pain and holiday-induced loneliness. For nurses who work with in acute pediatric units like oncology, there must often be efforts bordering on the Herculean to bring holiday cheer directly to the children. After all, memories can be made anywhere with the right intention and spirit.
A Holiday Salute to Nurses
In order to remain the most trusted profession in the United States year after year in the Gallup poll, nurses must be doing something right, and the respect we receive can be channeled into warm nurse hearts and hands doing good deeds year-round. Many nurses use the holidays as an opportunity to step up to the plate and deliver cheer to patients and colleagues when the holidays roll around, and that is a selfless service indeed.
Happy holidays, nurses; thank you for being heartfully on duty even when you’d rather be home with your family and friends. We salute you today and always.
