Working on the holidays

“I work the night shift and it’s always festive on Christmas Eve and Christmas night. Everyone’s happy and the patients are so thankful that someone is working. The unit has decorated trees and we all wear badge holders with blinking lights.”

The staff often shares a potluck dinner, as well as experiences that remind them of the meaning of the holidays.

Dempsey, BSN, RNC-OB, C-EFM, remembers a mother-to-be and her caregiver from one Christmas Eve. “The patient had some complications and no family there, but her friend was caring for her so well. She was giving her ice chips, wiping her face with a cool cloth, holding her hand and encouraging her.”

After a few hours, the friend told Dempsey that she needed to leave, but she gave the nurse her name and phone number and told her to call if the expectant mother needed her.

“I asked her how they knew each other and was surprised to learn that the woman was the cab driver who had driven the patient to the hospital and just stayed to help. I still think about how sweet that was,” Dempsey said.

Festive blankets

Tessalia Rodgers, RN, who is single, says that all the babies in the neonatal intensive care unit at Grady Memorial Hospital are her children. The former lawyer from the Dominican Republic has worked almost every holiday in the NICU since becoming a nurse four years ago.

“I know people want to be home or travel for the holidays, so I’ll switch with them,” Rodgers said. “My whole family is here in Atlanta and anytime we get together, it’s a party. We just celebrate another time.”

She works on the holidays knowing that babies in the NICU are a special patient population and the unit can’t be short-staffed.

“Sometimes they misbehave and pull out tubes, and when the alarm beeps, we all fly to the bed. I’m glad to be here to keep an eye on them,” Rodgers said.

The nurses at Grady wear white uniforms, but they dress them up with candy cane earrings and holiday scarves, hats or socks for Christmas. The infants are swaddled in seasonal blankets — thanks to Rodgers and her mother.

“The hospital blankets get scratchy after a few washings, so I bought cotton and flannel cloth and we made about 500 special blankets for the Fourth of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas,” she said. “Other volunteers have donated pretty gowns and coverlets for the isolettes, and the bright colors really brighten everyone’s moods.”

Rodgers encourages families to bring in holiday outfits for their babies.

“They’re so scared and anxious about the tubes and everything, but we tell them that [the babies] aren’t breakable,” she said. “They’re stronger than they look and we can dress them up.”

Rodgers says that helping mothers bond with their babies is “priceless.”

“Watching a mother hold a baby that looks like a little pumpkin or Santa makes the holidays for me,” she said. “The family usually starts taking pictures and they’ll call others to come see. I love what I do and it feels good to make those special moments possible for families who have to be in the hospital.”

Many families stay in touch with Rodgers and the NICU staff and send photos of their children’s milestones as they grow up.

“Patients would rather be home for the holidays, so we try to make it as comfortable as possible for them,” said Ereka Smith, RN, a nurse in Grady’s Burn Center.

Although the burn unit is a sterile environment, staff members let in more visitors and allow families to bring gifts, food and decorations on a holiday. Members of the Georgia Firefighters Foundation visit with toys and gifts for patients.

“We have a big potluck with turkey and the trimmings, and if there are patients without family, we feed them,” Smith said.

As one of the clinical coordinators on the night shift, Smith works most holidays to make sure the shift is covered. The nurses spend about 15 minutes of every hour visiting with patients who are bedridden and in pain, normally, but on the holidays they are not as busy.

“There’s more time for caring moments and you can really get to know your patients, find out where they are from and hear about their lives,” Smith said. “If the weather’s nice, I’ll take patients outside for a little while.”

For Smith, working on the holidays is satisfying. “I always feel good... knowing that I can provide some comfort to my patients. It means a lot to me that I can help them,” she said.

Smith’s family schedules holiday celebrations around her work schedule. Her husband, Horvelle Jr., holds down the fort and starts the cooking. Sometimes her family visits her in the hospital on Thanksgiving or Christmas.

She likes having them see what she does at work. “It’s important for them to learn about giving back,” she said.

Ready to help people

Buddy Standridge has worked many holidays during his 20 years as an emergency medical technician and paramedic for Grady Emergency Medical Services and American Medical Response.

“The TV show ‘Emergency’ was my favorite growing up and being an EMT was what I always wanted to do,” Standridge said. “The shift is often quieter during the day of a holiday. I wear a Santa hat and share a meal with co-workers, who are my friends.

“But at nighttime it gets a little crazier. That’s when we see more shootings, stabbings and beatings.”

Standridge knows that more cardiac arrests, suicide attempts, drug overdoses and children’s accidents can happen on the holidays, and he’s prepared for anything when he answers a call.

“We just take one call at a time, and every day I’m glad I can be there. When you see how badly someone is hurting and can get him to the hospital in time to get him better, you know you’re making a difference. It feels good at the end of the day, any day, to know that you can help somebody.”

It was tougher to work on holidays when his children were small, Standridge said, but he knew that shift rotation came with the job.

“It’s just luck of the draw every year, but we all know each other’s family circumstances, so sometimes you trade days off and work for each other,” Standridge said.

His children have grown up celebrating whenever the family can be together.

“It’s not like we won’t celebrate,” he said. “There will be four or five decorated trees in the house and gifts for everyone.”