Allison Vorcheimer The nurses that take care of you during your labor and recovery are truly amazing and can make or break your hospital stay. All of my nurses when I had my son were so great and really care for their patients. Their actual job is to bring you required medication and check your vitals but they truly do so much more than that! A close friend of mine is a nurse and helped give me a few ideas on nurse gifts they would truly enjoy and appreciate.
With my first I made small individual bags with lotion/chapsticks and did something similar with my second. Here are a few ideas for how you can show your nurses you appreciate them.
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1. Coffee or Snacks
When my nurse friend had her baby, she brought DD coffee and doughnuts for the nurses on shift. She stressed that having some for both morning and night shift was important! As a night shift nurse, she said they often only get the leftovers of what was brought for day shift so if you go this route, make sure you think of all the nurses who take care of you around the clock. Some other good ideas along these lines are trays of cookies, pastries or brownies. This is less personalized but just as appreciated and great if you do not have the time to set up individual gifts beforehand. Just send your partner out or ask a family member to pick this up for you when coming to the hospital.
**While my hospital has eased COVID restrictions, I’m not sure if a shared tray would be appropriate right now so if you are thinking of bringing food, individually wrapped options would probably be the way to go. If you don’t have time to go out and put together a basket like this, order a pre-assorted set like this one.
2. Pens
Apparently pens are a hot commodity in the nursing community! So, packs of pens for the nurses who care for you can be a great and inexpensive way to show your appreciation. If you want to go the simpler route, get 2-4 packs (these are great) that are already packaged up so you can just add a little note and gift as is or you can buy a bulk pack to save a little money and get creative with a note and ribbon tie or gift bags.
3. Individual Treat Packs
If you want to give coffee and treats but keep it more personal, making individual bags for your nurse staff is a great way to go. You can include Starbucks Frappuccino’s or instant coffee, wrapped cookies/brownies and other goodies.
4. Gift Cards
A $5-$10 gift card to Starbucks or Target are also great small gifts for your nurses. Simple, appreciated and will definitely get used.
5. Spa/Self Care Gift Sets
I opted to make individual self care gift packs with:
They came out really cute and were definitely a hit with the nurses. Ordering these as larger packs and breaking them into individual gifts made this an inexpensive gift (plus I have extras for myself for after baby is born!). I wrapped these and set up blank whole punched thank you cards so I could write a personalized note and add to the bags at the hospital. You could also do simple thank you tags if you want to keep it easy.
These are just a few simple ideas to show appreciation for the nurses who take care of you during such a special time in your family’s life. Are you planning on making gifts for your labor and delivery nurses? Any great nurse gift ideas I missed? Let me know in the comments!
