In the middle of a global pandemic, health care workers and nurses, in particular, are doing all they can to help their communities. This includes nursing students, who work long clinical hours to get the job done. As essential workers, they’re working long hours to provide comfort and care to patients and their families during the Covid-19 pandemic. While many communities are doing what they can to give back by volunteering free meals and other items of support, you may be wondering what you can do to help the nurse practitioner (NP) or nursing student you care most about.
If you’re the family member, partner, or friend of a nurse, here are some ideas on gifts you can give to help them out.
Gifts for Self Care
Whether the person you care about is studying to get their certification as a traditional registered nurse (RN), an AGNP- C, or a family nursing practitioner, you probably already know how grueling school and clinical hours can be. For some students, balancing another job, work, home life, and normal daily responsibilities feel nearly impossible. Yet, these nursing students are getting it done, even in a major pandemic.
If you’re impressed with the nursing student in your life and want to show them how much you appreciate their efforts, start with a gift for self-care. Nursing students are dedicating their careers to caring for other people. Odds are that they would love to be appreciated in return. Self-care gifts could include a gift card to the spa, a home manicure set, a good book, a movie collection, or even time alone for a bubble bath and their favorite playlist. If you live with a nursing student, consider running them a bath, watching the kids, keeping them from major distractions, and encouraging them to focus on themselves. A bottle of wine, a new pillow, candles, a yoga class, a blanket, and even a cold brew are also great gifts that might help them unwind.
Helpful and Practical Gifts
Ordering takeout and having it delivered to a student nurse or the facility they work in can be a great way to support the future family nurse practitioner in your life. The best thing about bringing your nursing student a meal is it means you might even be able to slip in some time together. Whether it’s listening to a hard day or just being there for quiet time, your special gift of thinking of them will mean less time they have to spend on chores like cooking and cleaning up the kitchen.
The Gift of Time and Attention
A gift idea people often overlook can be as simple as quality time. Something as easy as a massage and spending time with the one you love can be as good as any other romantic gifts for your girlfriend or partner. Regardless if the nursing student in your life is your romantic partner or not, giving them some one-on-one time doing an activity they enjoy could be the best gift of all.
A quality gift could also be a getaway. When the nursing student in your life is on break, consider a road trip or quick vacation that might be doable with their schedule. Time on a beach or just in another place could be a great way for them to reset. When in doubt with the perfect nursing gift, there’s always scrubs or work equipment, too. Offering to buy their textbooks, uniforms, shoes, or more could be given as part of that getaway gift certificate.
Whether the nursing student you care about is helping with patient care during the pandemic or not, they could still use extra support. Think about gifts for self-care, that help them relax, or even gifts they can bring to school and work. Your gift will be appreciated and could be enough to get them through the next shift or class in these unconventional times.
