Favorite Healthcare Staffing provided this article.
The holidays are right around the corner, and the clock is ticking on your holiday shopping. Having a hard time thinking of the perfect gift for your family or friends in the healthcare field? Or maybe you’re a healthcare professional and need gift inspiration for yourself because your family and friends keep asking you what you want.
Either way, we’ve come up with a list of trending items that have been organized into several different categories for your convenience. Perfect for anyone interested in self-care, technology, clothing, accessories, and kitchen items, our gift guide has got you covered this holiday season. We’ve even included some fun and simple stocking stuffer ideas. Here’s our 2023 gift guide for healthcare workers this holiday season.
Gifts for Travel Nurses: The Guide
Self-care
Holidays can be stressful with all the planned events and endless shopping trips. As a travel nurse, it’s important to take care of yourself so that you can take care of your patients. Listed below are several gift ideas that will benefit travel nurses’ physical and mental health. Help your loved ones prioritize their self-care with these five essentials.
Journal
Writing down your thoughts and feelings can be soothing after working long and busy shifts. Crack open your fresh new journal and relieve some stress whenever you see fit. You can even throw in some fun pens, pencils, or felt tip markers to make journal writing even more enjoyable.
Diffuser
Winding down after a long shift with the calming smells of a diffuser is sure to boost your mood and help you relax. Having the option to personalize your experience by selecting essential oils tailored to your desired mood is another key benefit of diffusers. Whether you want to feel relaxed, happy, or focused, essential oils in a diffuser can help achieve that. Aroma therapy has been seen to enhance a person’s mood, and what better way to do that than with a diffuser? Safer and much less toxic than candles, diffusers can be the perfect gift for a loved one.
Tiger Balm Pain Relieving Ointment
Being a healthcare professional can be hard on your body at times. When you’re constantly on your feet or lifting and transporting patients, the soreness can sneak up on you. To prevent this from happening, try using the Tiger Balm Pain Relieving Ointment.
Nodpod Gentle Pressure Sleep Mask
Sleep masks, in general, help increase the amount of sleep a person gets. However, with the Nodpod Gentle Pressure Sleep Mask, you’ll notice even more of a difference in the quality of your sleep. Getting a good night’s sleep is especially important for travel nurses who need to stay alert during long shifts and assignments.
Weighted Blanket
If you’re ever feeling anxious, have a lot on your mind, or just need to feel at ease, then a weighted blanket could be the perfect gift for you! Proven to boost your serotonin and melatonin levels, a weighted blanket will help reduce feelings of anxiety and stress. Better yet, they come in various colors, sizes, and patterns.
The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG
Sometimes, you simply can’t get a whole eight hours of sleep at night. Rather than show up to your shift looking like a zombie, try this Ordinary eye product that helps with eye puffiness and dark circles.
Technology
Receiving a new gadget or form of technology that can make your life just a bit easier is always nice. These tech gifts can help travel nurses track their health, clean when time is so limited, and relieve muscle pain after a demanding shift. Here are the top three tech gifts we think you or your family and friends will love.
Fitbit Versa 4
Do you want an Apple Watch but don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars? If so, the Fitbit Versa 4 is the right smartwatch for you! With a similar shape, style, and functionality as an Apple Watch would have, the Fitbit Versa 4 is great for everyday wear. Track your steps, see your health stats, and even receive calls and texts on this sleek Fitbit. Especially useful for travel nurses away on assignments, the Fitbit Versa will help you feel more connected to family and friends.
Roomba iRobot
Imagine coming home to clean floors without even having to lift a finger. The Roomba iRobot is perfect for travel nurses with busy schedules who just want to relax after a long shift. Better yet, the Roomba iRobot is perfect for anyone who has pets that shed. Show your family and friends love by gifting them with a present that will reduce their workload.
Massage Gun
Another amazing gift idea that the nurses in your life will love is a massage gun. After being on the go all day during a shift, a massage gun will help relieve the pain or stress that constant movement puts on your body. What’s also nice about this gift option is that the price range is broad. You can find massage gun prices anywhere from $20 to $400. No matter how much you spend, your loved ones will appreciate the thought you put into the gift.
Clothing and Accessories
You can never go wrong with gifting someone clothing and accessories. Since most travel nurses have to wear scrubs, being able to accessorize at work is crucial.
Scrubs
Being a travel nurse means that, more likely than not, you can never have enough scrubs. Treat yourself or your loved ones this holiday season with a pair of brand-new FIGS or Jaanuu scrubs. Nurses have raved about the comfortability, fit, and look that these scrubs brands provide. Gift your loved ones the best this holiday season with these highly-rated scrubs.
Tennis Shoes
If you have yet to hear, Hokas and On Cloud have taken the nursing and healthcare world by storm. Highly rated by nurses, these shoes will keep your feet feeling great after being on them and walking around all day long. Not only are these shoes comfortable, but they’re also trendy and even come in fun colors.
Ring Holder Necklace or Silicone Ring
Since travel nurses often can’t wear wedding rings due to glove and safety reasons, the ring holder necklace is the perfect solution for this problem. Another benefit to the ring holder necklace is that you would never lose your ring. If you constantly need to remove your wedding ring for shifts, the odds that you misplace the ring are much higher. Travel nurses especially are at risk of losing their wedding rings if they are not in their homes where they might have a designated spot to keep their rings safe. Nurses who do not wish to wear a necklace also have the option to wear a silicone wedding band.
Jacket
Most travel nurses have experienced working in a chilly healthcare facility at some point in their lives. By gifting your loved one with a comfortable and warm jacket they can keep at work, like this or this, you will be keeping them from shivering all throughout their shift. This will especially benefit them during the frigid winter months.
Kitchen
These top-rated kitchen items will no doubt make your life easier than you would expect. With these kitchen must-haves, you’ll save time and money, easily be able to cook healthy meals, and you’ll stay properly hydrated.
Keurig or Nespresso
Staying caffeinated and energized is more than necessary during a long and tiring shift. A Keurig or Nespresso is a great way to help fight exhaustion. Whether you’re working an early morning or late-night shift, your coffee machine will be your best friend. Ready in just about a minute, your coffee won’t slow you down if you’re running late to work. These coffee machines are also nice for travel nurses because they aren’t oversized. Just simply put the coffee maker back in the box it came in and throw it in your trunk if you’re driving to an assignment.
Instant Pot
If there’s one thing you absolutely need in your kitchen, it’s an instant pot. The biggest perk of an instant pot is that you can come home to a home-cooked meal after working all day. Since these slow cookers are made to stay on all day, all you have to do is prepare a little the night before, and you’re all set. Simply throw your ingredients in the pot in the morning and come home to a delicious meal.
Nutribullet
Another quick and easy-to-use kitchen item is a Nutribullet. If you’re someone who gets hungry in the morning but doesn’t feel like eating a whole meal, then smoothies are the way to go. If you don’t want the full-sized Nutribullet, there’s also a mini portable Nutribullet that could come in handy when on a travel nurse assignment. Perfect for when you’re on the go, this Nutribullet will provide you with filling smoothies that will keep you energized.
Calpak Insulated Lunch Bag
Bringing your lunch to work is always a good idea if you’re trying to save on spending or eat healthier. Make bringing lunch more fun with the Calkpak Insulated Lunch Bag. With a multitude of bright colors and extravagant patterns, the Calpack lunch bag will make you want to pack a lunch every day.
Stanley or Hydroflask Water Bottle
Staying hydrated throughout your shift is imperative when working in healthcare. When you have so much to do and so little time, no one wants to waste time constantly filling up their water bottles. To avoid this, gift your loved one with a 40oz or more Stanley water bottle or Hydroflask. This way, they will stay hydrated, and they won’t have to run to the water fountain nearly as often.
HelloFresh Subscription
Give your loved ones the gift of saving time, money and the ability to eat healthier. With a HelloFresh subscription, you’ll be able to make healthy meals that actually taste good. Each meal will be tailored to your preferences once you insert the groups and types of foods that you wish to prioritize most. For instance, you can make your meals vegetarian, pescatarian, high in protein, quick and easy, family-friendly, and so on.
Stocking Stuffers
Everyone loves the little goodies you find in your stocking. Here are what we think travel nurses could use the most when working a shift.
Badge Reels
It can be hard to show your personality in your clothing when you have to wear a uniform to your healthcare job. Get your family or friends a customized badge reel to fit their personality so they can express themselves at work. There is a wide range of unique badge reels on websites like Amazon or Etsy.
Hand lotion
When you work in the healthcare industry, you spend a lot of time washing your hands. This is a good thing, of course, but it can also dry out your hands significantly. Scented or unscented hand lotion is always a great option for a stocking stuffer.
ChapStick
Similarly, it is always nice to have ChapStick on deck when working in healthcare. Wearing masks can cause dry lips, so help your loved ones out this holiday season by gifting them a pack of ChapStick.
Hair Ties
Since many nurses have to keep their hair up and out of their faces during a shift, hair ties are always a great item to have an excess of. Since hair ties are so small and easy to lose, this is always a great option when you don’t know what to put in a stocking.
Whatever you end up getting your loved ones for the holidays, just know they will love it because it came from you. We hope we were able to help you this holiday season with our 2023 gift guide for travel nurses!
We hope you found this article on gifts for travel nurses helpful this holiday season. Are there any gifts for travel nurses we don’t have on this list? Comment them below.
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Our job board is a great place to search for your next travel nurse assignment. We have you covered with our housing page if housing is an issue. You can search for what you are looking for.
If you are a new travel nurse or looking into becoming a travel nurse:
Travel Nurse Guide: Step-by-Step (now offered in a PDF Downloadable version!)
gifts for travel nurses
