The most expensive, silly or cheap gifts you received from your hospital

Nurses General Nursing

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I am not sure if there is any other thread similar to this one but I am just curious what is the most expensive, silly and /or least expensive gifts/ freebies you ever received from your hospital??

The most expensive gifts I ever got for my hospital is a bag with the hospital logo on it and the least expensive is those plastic fruits....they were just promoting health and well ness....I just wished they would give us lots of pen!!!

Specializes in med-surg, telemetry,geriatrics.

THE worst, found out that the hospital I am working at, not only does not give anything for Christmas. Nada, zilch, zero, but they have the stones to ask employees at the holidays what amount of money they would like to be taken out of their check as a contribution for the next year to help support the hospital!:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire

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The worse: For Nurses Day: A bright yellow garbage bad with EMC (E----- Medical Center) on the back of it, to wear as a rain repellent. The bright yellow was a safety feature for the hospital because people had been hit by cars speeding down the hospital trail. When I walked out of the hospital there was a big garbage can and I bet 50 bright yellow garbage bags already placed in it. Mine made 51! What a freaking insult to nurses. They paid too much for the marble tile.

The best: I'm still waiting.

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Specializes in icu/er.

one of my part-time gigs is so cheap that they stopped sending out x-mass cards and just sent mass emails to everyone, and whats so funny is that it says "happy thanksgiving ,merry christmass and a happy new year", now thats cheap all three hollidays in one email...

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@ my hospital for birthdays they give us a discount coupon to OUR gift shop w/ a very long list of exclusions, truly everything is off limits ... including candy, soft drinks, cards, etc. We all get a good laugh @ this wonderful gift!!

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I received an 'employee survival kit'

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Specializes in ICU,PCU,ER, TELE,SNIFF, STEP DOWN PCT.

At one hospital they were given a "red" apple.

Another hospital a Orange in a paperbag

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I'm not a nurse, but before I went back to school, I worked for a company that wanted people to come up with money-saving ideas. I submitted an idea that was a "red" level, meaning they would save more than $100 a month or some such thing, and what did I get?

A light bulb painted red.

It wasn't like I could use it or anything.

The hospital where I work is independent and nonprofit, and we have a "gain share" if they come out ahead. Last year, it was $153 and all FTEs got that, from the dishwasher to the CEO, who incidentally is a female nurse. :) Part-time employees have theirs prorated according to how many hours they work. Would you believe some people complain about that too?

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

the absolute cheapest was also the best -- a soup mix from the ccu manager a couple of decades ago. she'd taken 12 types of beans and lentils and layered them in a pretty glass jar, added a spice packet and tied the whole thing with a pretty red ribbon and a recipe card. you added a ham bone and simmered for a few hours. the soup was wonderful! unfortunately, i've lost the recipe and that was three jobs ago. i know she'd spent some time assembling all those (80+) jars of soup mix and hand wrote the recipe cards with a little personalized message. it was one of the nicer gifts i've ever gotten, as well as the cheapest. she really put some effort into it, and her staff felt valued and appreciated.

the priciest was a $100 gift card to fred meyer. (groceries, beer, wine, electronics, clothing, etc.) dh and i combined ours and had a real nice christmas!

here, we get a free meal in the cafeteria most years -- but this year the cafeteria is closed for renovation.

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Specializes in Pedatrics, Child Protection.

When I worked in the US I received:

--a 20 lb turkey at Christmas (I was single....ate leftovers FOREVER!!)

--a $20 gift cert for a restaurant I can't remember

--a fanny pack for nurses week

--one kick a$$ umbrella.....it was the biggest and most sturdy umbrella ever. I cried when it finally broke.

--used to get our birthday as a paid day off at one hosptial (that rocked too)

Now that I'm back in Canada.....

--a pen

--a mug with the hospital logo on it (very nice)

--and I think I've accumulated a number of tote bags with hospital logos on them.

--Christmas dinner is free....full-on turkey, stuffing, etc with the most amazing dessert! Really looking forward to that again this year.

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they have the stones to ask employees at the holidays what amount of money they would like to be taken out of their check as a contribution for the next year to help support the hospital!
Say what???
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Specializes in Peds/Neo CCT,Flight, ER, Hem/Onc.

One hospital I worked at was doing some renovations. They ordered tile in a custom color and didn't like it when it arrived. So they slapped the hospital logo on it in gold, put some felt feet on it and voila...trivets for everyone!!!!! I pity the housekeeper who had to empty the trash cans the day they gave them out. We had a last breaking them into a million pieces!

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One of the best things I ever received was $200 gift cards to an upscale dept store, in addition to a gift cert for $20 grocery(for the turkey but could be used for anything in the store), a company logo item(that year I think was a blanket), free holiday dinner if working and free movie tickets for my b'day(happens to fall in december). The worst thing I think would have to be from my current place who is "big" on trying to retain nurses. They started a retainment commitee. Activities include, BBQs(cheap food), t-shirt design(huh?) an so forth. I could definitely pass on these for such things as: adequate staffing(what you want me us to pay for more nurses?), supplies(change those IV tubings q72 but wait we don't have enough stock at this time to do so), pharm support(we don't work nights, let's ship it in from another local hospital at triple the cost so I don't have to get of my lazy a$$ and come in and make it for you). Incidentally, the first hospital is not-for-profit and obviously, the second one is not. I miss that first place. (sigh)

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