Ways You Can Support Healthcare Workers Rano Bofill, MD
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 600,000 healthcare workers in the United States. These professionals work in a variety of settings and provide vital services every day. They deserve our support! Here are five ways you can show your appreciation to healthcare workers:
Write a letter or send an email thanking them for their service The first way to show your appreciation for healthcare workers is by writing a letter or email. A thank you note tells them how much their service means to you and lets them know that what they do matters! If time doesn't allow, thanking the staff at the front desk or reception area can be very helpful. For example, "Thank you for being there when I couldn't be. You have no idea how much that meant to me!"
Give them a gift card at Christmas time
The holidays are a great time to show your appreciation, especially with gift cards. Rather than buying them another candy bar or holiday card, give healthcare workers something they can use! If you have no idea what is appropriate for the staff at their workplace, then just ask. They will appreciate that you took the time out of your schedule to think about them. A great gift card to give is one of amazon's ecards because it allows healthcare workers to pick out their gifts for themselves! An example of an appropriate gift card would be "$50 Amazon Gift Card, Use Online or on Kindle Fire. Redeemable towards millions of items storewide at Amazon.com or for millions of items on the Kindle Fire."
Offer to help with childcare while they take care of family members One of the best gifts you can give to healthcare workers is your time and effort. If the staff at a place of work needs help with childcare while they take care of their family members, offer! This will allow them some much-needed breaks from what could be very stressful jobs. For example, "I'll watch your kid(s) for you so you can go home and take a long nap." Another way to help is by offering your time off at work! If they have extra shifts, offer to cover them so that the healthcare worker doesn't have to do much work. This will allow them more time with their families, which could be very important during the holidays.
Bring food over when they're on call When healthcare workers are on call, they may not be able to leave the hospital for hours. Bringing them food can brighten their day! It's easy to take sympathy for someone sitting in a waiting room or bedside, but this kind of appreciation will go even further than you think it would. For example, "I brought you a sandwich and some tea. You look tired, so I thought you could use this!" Another way to show your support is by bringing the staff to a place of work food when they're working overtime or on call. This can go a long way in showing how much their service matters to people around them, even when they can't be there in person.
Ask if there is anything you can do for them that will make their job easier
Finally, one of the best ways to show your appreciation for healthcare workers is by asking them what they need! Ask if there is anything you can do that will make their job easier. This could be as simple as picking up lunch or coffee for everyone on shift. It may also mean allowing staff members at a place of work time off when they need it to take care of themselves and their families.
Thank you for watching! To learn more about how to help your community, visit RanoBofillMD.org!