Mom has Mother’s Day. Dad gets Father’s Day. There’s a national day for ice cream, one for cheese and one for secretaries. Nurses get Nurses Week, but it’s not really a holiday we can appreciate.
What if we cut that week up into seven separate days, scattered throughout the year, that would really mean something?
In order of increasing importance, here are the holidays I’d like to see:
National No-Phone-Call Day: Telephones would no longer receive incoming calls. Outgoing calls would be unaffected, but you wouldn’t be interrupted in the middle of an IV start by your cell phone going off in your pocket.
Lunch-Hour Day: Did you know that people in other jobs get a whole hour, sometimes, for lunch? Some people actually run errands during their lunch hours. I know, I know! If we had a Lunch-Hour Day, we might be guaranteed 15 minutes to gulp down a protein bar.
National Sufficient Staffing Day: This one really needs no explanation. It’s also just as much a fantasy as any of the others.
Visible Physician Day: On this one day of the year, doctors are required to enter a room, introduce themselves, speaking slowly enough that patients can understand them, and conduct an exam without rushing. They are then required to be around, rather than in meetings or hiding in their clubhouse, for the entire 24 hours.
No Whining Day: Nobody except nurses gets to whine. Imagine a world in which patients’ family members didn’t complain about the temperature, hardness of the pillows or hospital food. Imagine the sweet, sweet silence.
Fluid Cycle Day: As many bathroom breaks as you need, when you need them, and enough water to keep you safely hydrated.
And my personal number one, my own cherished fantasy:
Say Anything Day: Just one day out of the year when I could respond to the more interesting questions I get or insane people I meet in the way I’d like to, without consequences.
Which holidays do you wish existed just for nurses?
