Please Thank Your Nurses On Christmas (And New Year’s Eve)
- Posted on: Dec 27 2011
My latest article for CNN.com has gotten people talking:
You can guarantee that three places will be open on Christmas day: Chinese restaurants, Denny’s and hospitals.
I spent part of last Christmas in the hospital visiting my mother-in-law who was recovering from open heart surgery. I felt depressed walking into the building that morning. My mother-in-law treasures the holidays more than anyone else in my family. Lying in a hospital bed was the absolute last way she wanted to spend Christmas.
But during the time I spent at her bedside, my depression lifted, replaced by an overwhelming sense of gratitude for her doctors, nurses, and medical technicians. I never felt for one second that her care suffered because her medical team was working on Christmas. The nurses and support staff were cheerful, accommodating and responsive. One male nurse even wore a Santa’s cap and greeted my mother-in-law with “Merry Christmas” and “Ho-ho-ho” before he took her blood pressure.
Most physicians who work on Christmas – with some exceptions like ER docs – round on patients in the morning so they can get back home in time for Christmas dinner. Not so for nurses and other hospital employees. They put in full or extended shifts on Christmas to make sure that all the patients are cared for. Thankfully, hospitals never close; medical care never takes days off.
To read the rest of the article, please click HERE.
Tagged with: christmas, Denny's, holiday, nurses, shifts
Posted in: Dr. Anthony Youn in the Media