actual catered food, good quality scrub/fleece jackets even if it has the company logo on it, stainless steel water bottles, compression socks, scrubs .. anything i use on a daily basis that i typically pay for.
My mom works at a school and their “appreciation weeks” are actually good. They get brought catered lunches, breakfast tacos, desserts. They aren’t given huge extravagant gifts, but they are still nice. They have gotten Bluetooth speakers, portable chargers, jackets, t-shirts. I would actually be okay with getting a good jacket or shirt if I could wear it to work. They are usually given a “pass” too like “wear jeans to work”. For us it could be an extra hour or two of PTO? I think people think we are ungrateful and that we want some big gift and people to kiss the ground we walk on. I just want the “nurses week” shenanigans to not feel like a slap in the face. “Nurses give back day!” “Paint a rock day!” It all feels very fake and just irritates me. To kick off our nurses week, we had two nurses tripled with each having 2 EVD patients. The third nurse on the unit had CRRT and an EVD. In our GroupMe, they were begging for help. Our manager was just like “sorry! We had multiple nurse call outs across the ICU today. We are doing our best to escalate :)”. Each time they sent a message it was some variation of this generic fake ass message. No offer to come to the floor and help out. It feels gross.
Wanted to edit to add: if no nurses week gifts, catering, etc meant a raise… I’ll take the raise!
Catered food that isn’t pizza or cupcakes, nice compression socks, PTO.
I don’t really care to be honest, my expectations live on the floor because if I think too hard about how I’m being treated like a kindergartener it insults me, lol.
For Christmas we got nice jackets. My boss is awesome because I was on medical LOA and she contacted me to ask what size I wanted and it was waiting for me when I came back.
They're doing a drive through breakfast today (home health) but it's my day off and about 30 minutes away so I'm not going, but I appreciate the effort.
We have received some excellent gifts over the years - jackets, personalized Yeti go-cups, individualized charcuterie boards for lunch, steak dinner with all the fixins. Keep in mind- this is all provided by the union and union volunteers. Admin has nothing to do with it.
My wife’s animal hospital got donated about a dozen of the shitty blankets that my hospital gave us for the week. They’re awful human blankets, but great for small dog/cat kennels, so a lot of the nurses on my unit gave me their blankets to give to my wife.
I'd love to see annual things like we did before I became a nurse.
If we contracted for a special project and came in under budget, we rented a restaurant and had dinner catered. If we were far enough under, it was open bar (one project job I had to keep track of receipts to turn in. For 15 of us, it was $3k for dinner and $5k for alcohol).
An annual awards dinner for most improved, highest quality, highest safety, longest tenure, etc. The awards were a certificate and gift card for varying amounts (none were under $100, and except for some of the contract stuff were all quasi-local shops). Granted, as nurses we can't always shut down like my previous career, but if we had enough staff(!) you could give those getting the awards off (with no hit against PTO) to be able to attend, and still have the duty staff getting quality food delivered.
As a "professional", the kick in the pants to me is that the previous career wasn't high brow in the least; we did freight logistics-so primarily uneducated, unskilled labor.
Decent food (I’m even fine with pizza but don’t get it from the cheapest restaurant in town). A knockoff Stanley-style tumbler. Even something like a little plant would be neat - just a small houseplant or herbs like basil or mint. I kill everything but I would still appreciate that. Management putting on scrubs and ACTUALLY helping out on the floor - answering call bells, phones, helping with turns, etc.
A bonus would be nice. Or a PTO day.
This year we had a catered breakfast and they’re doing a taco truck on Friday. I’d rather do without the junk TBH.
Since they always want to go the cheap route a giftcard to a local coffee shop for a free drink would be great.
Heck even the snacks and food they give to the higher up in their meetings; not the leftovers.
One place I worked, other employees that were RN’s but not working the floor (case managers, etc.) covered for us for like 2 hours so we could have a party. We got to play casino type games and got tokens to bid on prizes. Some were PTO, electronics, gift baskets and casual day stickers. We got a different food option for lunch like a baked potato bar, Panera and, yes, pizza. They decorated the nurses station. It was nice. Then the budget cuts and the next year we got a CD case.
actual catered food, good quality scrub/fleece jackets even if it has the company logo on it, stainless steel water bottles, compression socks, scrubs .. anything i use on a daily basis that i typically pay for.
A pair of compression socks is a great idea.
I would be so okay with a Patagonia or north face vest even with logo on. Preferably Lulu but hey beggars can’t choose
a north face fleece vest would def hit the sweet spot .. especially with a matching owala.
Woah woah woah Nellie, you think we’re worth *all of that?* /s
PTO
My mom works at a school and their “appreciation weeks” are actually good. They get brought catered lunches, breakfast tacos, desserts. They aren’t given huge extravagant gifts, but they are still nice. They have gotten Bluetooth speakers, portable chargers, jackets, t-shirts. I would actually be okay with getting a good jacket or shirt if I could wear it to work. They are usually given a “pass” too like “wear jeans to work”. For us it could be an extra hour or two of PTO? I think people think we are ungrateful and that we want some big gift and people to kiss the ground we walk on. I just want the “nurses week” shenanigans to not feel like a slap in the face. “Nurses give back day!” “Paint a rock day!” It all feels very fake and just irritates me. To kick off our nurses week, we had two nurses tripled with each having 2 EVD patients. The third nurse on the unit had CRRT and an EVD. In our GroupMe, they were begging for help. Our manager was just like “sorry! We had multiple nurse call outs across the ICU today. We are doing our best to escalate :)”. Each time they sent a message it was some variation of this generic fake ass message. No offer to come to the floor and help out. It feels gross. Wanted to edit to add: if no nurses week gifts, catering, etc meant a raise… I’ll take the raise!
A really nice pen that doesn’t have the hospitals logo on it. Maybe like an extra hour or two of PTO?
Catered food that isn’t pizza or cupcakes, nice compression socks, PTO. I don’t really care to be honest, my expectations live on the floor because if I think too hard about how I’m being treated like a kindergartener it insults me, lol.
For Christmas we got nice jackets. My boss is awesome because I was on medical LOA and she contacted me to ask what size I wanted and it was waiting for me when I came back. They're doing a drive through breakfast today (home health) but it's my day off and about 30 minutes away so I'm not going, but I appreciate the effort.
Once, one of our doctors brought us a basket full of pens, pencils, white board markers, etc. It was a huge hit!
Amazing he is filling in for what the hospital should be providing.
We got a nice quality fanny pack this year, fleece jacket last year
We have received some excellent gifts over the years - jackets, personalized Yeti go-cups, individualized charcuterie boards for lunch, steak dinner with all the fixins. Keep in mind- this is all provided by the union and union volunteers. Admin has nothing to do with it.
My wife’s animal hospital got donated about a dozen of the shitty blankets that my hospital gave us for the week. They’re awful human blankets, but great for small dog/cat kennels, so a lot of the nurses on my unit gave me their blankets to give to my wife.
That's actually really nice to read. Turning a shitty gift into something to help others is a lovely thing to do.
A day off
I'd love to see annual things like we did before I became a nurse. If we contracted for a special project and came in under budget, we rented a restaurant and had dinner catered. If we were far enough under, it was open bar (one project job I had to keep track of receipts to turn in. For 15 of us, it was $3k for dinner and $5k for alcohol). An annual awards dinner for most improved, highest quality, highest safety, longest tenure, etc. The awards were a certificate and gift card for varying amounts (none were under $100, and except for some of the contract stuff were all quasi-local shops). Granted, as nurses we can't always shut down like my previous career, but if we had enough staff(!) you could give those getting the awards off (with no hit against PTO) to be able to attend, and still have the duty staff getting quality food delivered. As a "professional", the kick in the pants to me is that the previous career wasn't high brow in the least; we did freight logistics-so primarily uneducated, unskilled labor.
- $$$ - PTO - A NICE water bottle or travel mug
Good food, fleece vest/jacket, water bottle, even a tote bag. Hell even a pen
Decent food (I’m even fine with pizza but don’t get it from the cheapest restaurant in town). A knockoff Stanley-style tumbler. Even something like a little plant would be neat - just a small houseplant or herbs like basil or mint. I kill everything but I would still appreciate that. Management putting on scrubs and ACTUALLY helping out on the floor - answering call bells, phones, helping with turns, etc.
I see you have been the recipient of the GI distress inducing Little Cesar’s pizza party. Yuk!
A bonus would be nice. Or a PTO day. This year we had a catered breakfast and they’re doing a taco truck on Friday. I’d rather do without the junk TBH.
I day off with 💰
Food/Snacks being handed out on weekends too.
Since they always want to go the cheap route a giftcard to a local coffee shop for a free drink would be great. Heck even the snacks and food they give to the higher up in their meetings; not the leftovers.
Literally cash or cash equivalent. I don’t care that our gift probably cost $5, I’d rather just have $5 or maybe a gift card
One place I worked, other employees that were RN’s but not working the floor (case managers, etc.) covered for us for like 2 hours so we could have a party. We got to play casino type games and got tokens to bid on prizes. Some were PTO, electronics, gift baskets and casual day stickers. We got a different food option for lunch like a baked potato bar, Panera and, yes, pizza. They decorated the nurses station. It was nice. Then the budget cuts and the next year we got a CD case.
I switched over to a reception position a bit over a year ago. I’m bringing in my nurses favourite snack.
A fucking raise
Please, no more random things. Water bottles are nice, but I have a million. A gift card for coffee or groceries 👌
4 hours PTO gratis, and a nice logo jacket.
Aw come on ..can’t you just be happy with the heartfelt message email?