Scrubs

7 holidays that nurses WISH existed

0

iStock | kiddy0265

iStock | kiddy0265


Mom has Mother’s Day. Dad gets Father’s Day. There’s a national day for ice cream, one for cheese and one for secretaries. Nurses get Nurses Week, but it’s not really a holiday we can appreciate.

What if we cut that week up into seven separate days, scattered throughout the year, that would really mean something?

In order of increasing importance, here are the holidays I’d like to see:

National No-Phone-Call Day: Telephones would no longer receive incoming calls. Outgoing calls would be unaffected, but you wouldn’t be interrupted in the middle of an IV start by your cell phone going off in your pocket.

Lunch-Hour Day: Did you know that people in other jobs get a whole hour, sometimes, for lunch? Some people actually run errands during their lunch hours. I know, I know! If we had a Lunch-Hour Day, we might be guaranteed 15 minutes to gulp down a protein bar.

National Sufficient Staffing Day: This one really needs no explanation. It’s also just as much a fantasy as any of the others.

Visible Physician Day: On this one day of the year, doctors are required to enter a room, introduce themselves, speaking slowly enough that patients can understand them, and conduct an exam without rushing. They are then required to be around, rather than in meetings or hiding in their clubhouse, for the entire 24 hours.

No Whining Day: Nobody except nurses gets to whine. Imagine a world in which patients’ family members didn’t complain about the temperature, hardness of the pillows or hospital food. Imagine the sweet, sweet silence.

Fluid Cycle Day: As many bathroom breaks as you need, when you need them, and enough water to keep you safely hydrated.

And my personal number one, my own cherished fantasy:

Say Anything Day: Just one day out of the year when I could respond to the more interesting questions I get or insane people I meet in the way I’d like to, without consequences.

Which holidays do you wish existed just for nurses?

Agatha Lellis
Agatha Lellis is a nurse whose coffee is brought to her every morning by a chipmunk. Bluebirds help her to dress, and small woodland creatures sing her to sleep each night. She writes a monthly advice column, "Ask Aunt Agatha," here on Scrubs; you can send her questions to be answered at askauntieaggie@gmail.com.

    Multistate Nurse Licensing: What You Need to Know

    Previous article

    Work Smarter Not Harder: Improving the Ergonomics of Your Workplace

    Next article

    You may also like

    More in Scrubs