10 Tips for a Brighter Holiday Season

5. SHARE A MEAL OR SWEET TREATS.

Most units have a holiday schedule, so you may know a year in advance which holidays you will be working. Talk to coworkers who’ll also be working that day and plan a potluck. Don’t settle for chips and salsa either — break out the slow cookers and favorite family recipes. If you have to work on Thanksgiving or Hanukkah or Christmas, you should at least eat some yummy traditional food.

If your coworkers aren’t up to organizing a full meal, bake a batch of snickerdoodles or some healthy banana bread, or stop by the local bakery to pick up something decadent, like a chocolate lava cake or cheesecake. Add a sweet little printable card, and voila, you have a nice, thoughtful way to say thanks.

6. SPREAD KINDNESS.

Kindness is contagious! Let your coworkers know how great they are by writing encouraging messages on sticky notes. Leave the notes on each person’s desk, put them on people’s lockers or hang them around the workstation. It’s a fun and uplifting way to say, “I’m thankful for you!”

Start a “kindness revolution” in your organization to encourage EVERYONE to be caring. Speak nicely about others and stand up on their behalf if someone is criticizing them. When in doubt, always, always choose to be kind.

7. STEP IN TO HELP.

When you have a couple of extra minutes, offer to help your coworkers do their jobs. Ask if you can watch a colleague’s patients while they take a break, or see if there’s anything you can do to support your boss. Don’t limit this to fellow nurses: Ask the physical therapist if they need an extra hand getting a patient out of bed, and imagine how grateful a nursing assistant would feel if you offered to help bathe a patient for a change — especially if that patient wasn’t yours!

8. OFFER TO FILL IN.

If you don’t have visiting family and one of your coworkers does, or if one of your colleagues is scheduled to work on a holiday they celebrate and you don’t, think about offering to fill in for them. They will most likely return the favor when you need it.

For example, if you don’t have small children, offer to work 7-11 a.m. on Christmas Day so a young mom or dad can watch their children open presents from Santa. They will never forget it, and may be there for you on New Year’s Eve so you can celebrate. Thoughtfulness is a wonderful gift.

9. SHOW GRATITUDE.

Everyone on the healthcare team has a job to do, but it’s nice when someone affirms you for “just doing your job.” Thank the nursing assistant for bathing your patient. Thank the physical therapist for walking your patient or for getting them out of bed. Be specific with your gratitude, and be sincere.

Also, be grateful for the fact that even if you do have to work on a holiday, you get to go home at the end of your shift — unlike your patients, who don’t have that option.

10. CREATE OPPORTUNITIES FOR LAUGHTER.

Did you know that feel-good neurochemicals like dopamine are released when we laugh? Not only is laughter good for the individual, it can also benefit the entire workplace.

According to Daniel Goleman, Ph.D., author of the book Emotional Intelligence, workplace jokes and laughter improve communications and trust. You can get a lot more done with people you feel comfortable communicating with and whom you trust than ones you don’t. Find every opportunity to laugh this holiday season!

Honoring Your Work “Family”

The people you work with can become like a second family: You spend a lot of time with them, sharing unique experiences and developing your own lexicon of private jokes and fond memories. Spending the holidays with those coworkers might not be your first choice, but it doesn’t have to be a hardship.

Take the opportunity to celebrate the awesome people in your professional life and make those holidays a little brighter for everyone.

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