Gifts for Patients?

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in Addictions, Adult Psych.

Hi all! I am a new nurse so I wanted to present this to you guys to see if this would be appropriate or not. I might just be looking way too deep into this, (which I do with a lot of things haha), so bear with me!

I work in a locked acute adult psych unit and I am working back to back doubles Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, so I will be the only nurse there in the morning when the patients wake up on Christmas. The majority of my patients have depression, and I was just thinking how sad and disappointing it could be for anyone to wake up there on the holiday. I was thinking about bringing in a bunch of small stockings, and writing their first names on them and hanging them off the counter at the nurses' station before they wake up in the morning as a nice gesture. (I am still lost as to what sort of little gift to put in there, so if you have any ideas they are much welcomed!)

So if you guys could let me know, would this be inappropriate? Could it be considered a form of staff splitting? Some of the nurses brought in Halloween candy and passed them out before.

Thanks for your time, I appreciate it!

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I think this is thoughtful of you. A cookie, a candy bar if they are not diabetic. An orange, an apple. A "script" for a slice of pie or cake. You usually can't go wrong with some small food item that can be immediately consumed.

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

I think that's a great idea. It doesn't have to be expensive, just the stockings and some little food gifts would likely be very much appreciated.

When I was IP at Halloween, the nurses brought in pumpkins for us to paint as we chose, and they gave us handfuls of candy. (The good kind.) Believe me, when you're locked up in a psych ward, the little things mean a great deal. Thank you for being thoughtful of your patients. :yes:

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Specializes in Addictions, Adult Psych.

thank you both for replying!

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Specializes in Critical Care, Med-Surg, Psych, Geri, LTC, Tele,.

This is kind of late, but one of the case managers (this person has over a hundred clients in various facilities) made a greeting card for each of her clients. She glued a single Hershey's kiss to the envelope. She wrote a personal happy holidays greeting on the inside of each card and the outside had a ribbon on it. It was simple, and meaningful. The Pts loved it!

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Specializes in Addictions, Adult Psych.

that's a wonderful idea but the thing with that is that it's an acute psych unit so when I go into work tomorrow afternoon I will be meeting all of the patients for the first time... I was thinking of a candy cane and some different kinds of chocolates... and it's not late I'll be taking ideas up til 2pm before I head out to shop and then to work :)

thank you so much for your input though I really appreciate it!

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Specializes in Addictions, Adult Psych.
This is kind of late, but one of the case managers (this person has over a hundred clients in various facilities) made a greeting card for each of her clients. She glued a single Hershey's kiss to the envelope. She wrote a personal happy holidays greeting on the inside of each card and the outside had a ribbon on it. It was simple, and meaningful. The Pts loved it!

and that must have taken her so much time!! what a thoughtful thing to do.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Med-Surg, Psych, Geri, LTC, Tele,.

CateBSN25, I agree that it was thoughtful. This holiday season,the acuity on my unit is up and the only things I've done are to bring candy and hugs to my Pts. I've fended off a few kisses and recvd a few kisses. (-;

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Specializes in ICU.

Just make sure your employer allows it. Some frown on gift-giving.

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Don't do it unless it is an approved, all-staff decision and process. Don't do it as an individual, personal project. Everywhere I've ever worked, the hospital/unit has done something nice for the clients for Xmas. It's inappropriate for you to do it on your own, and could even get you into some trouble. If you want to do something like this, at least talk to your boss first and, preferably (to me), plan it in advance as a unit project next year. (And I'm saying this as a psych nurse with ~30 yrs experience.) You can always do some fun, holiday crafts projects during the day, watch holiday movies on TV, etc., etc. There are lots of ways to make the holidays a little more fun and "upbeat" for clients on an inpatient unit. But giving gifts (individually, from you) is a whole different matter.

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Specializes in Addictions, Adult Psych.
Don't do it unless it is an approved, all-staff decision and process. Don't do it as an individual, personal project. Everywhere I've ever worked, the hospital/unit has done something nice for the clients for Xmas. It's inappropriate for you to do it on your own, and could even get you into some trouble. If you want to do something like this, at least talk to your boss first and, preferably (to me), plan it in advance as a unit project next year. (And I'm saying this as a psych nurse with ~30 yrs experience.) You can always do some fun, holiday crafts projects during the day, watch holiday movies on TV, etc., etc. There are lots of ways to make the holidays a little more fun and "upbeat" for clients on an inpatient unit. But giving gifts (individually, from you) is a whole different matter.

That's what I was afraid of. I ended up just bringing candy to share with everyone since it was so last minute and I didn't want to do anything wrong. I was planning on just saying that Santa came or something cute like that, not that it was directly from me. Thank you all for your input.

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