When it comes to holiday cheer, the hospital probably wouldn't be the first place you'd think to look. However, these are the locations that often need holiday cheer the most. From patients who wish they could be at their family's holiday get togethers to travel nurses who are in another state for the season, everyone in a hospital could use a little bit of cheering up around Christmastime. Here are some heartwarming stories from hospitals across the country:
A pup who needed a place to sleep
Scrubs Magazine published a story about a small dog who peered in through an ambulance door one cold New Year's Eve. While many hospitals may advise against bringing an animal into the hospital, especially around 11:00 p.m. when patients may be trying to sleep, nurse Melissa Ann Graham-Bailey and her colleagues wrapped the cold dog up, gave him some food and supplied him with a a cozy place to sleep in the Quiet Room.
Even more inspiring than the movie
In December of 2013, xo Jane told the story of a family whose 7-year-old son, Weston, had spent far too much time in the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia with heart disease and pulmonary hypertension. He was awaiting a double lung and heart transplant, something that the family realized would save their child's life. On Dec. 12, the family received a call that the hospital had found the perfect donor for Weston. The surgery took about 12 hours, free of complications. Taking the location of the hospital into account – this was a real-life miracle on 34th street.
You never know who will respond to your social media posts
Donya McCoy didn't expect anything to come of a Facebook post she made in November of 2014, but it ended up saving her 3-year-old daughter's life, reported ABC 7. Her daughter's condition was rare – S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase deficiency. This condition caused her body to be unable to process proteins, which is a process essential to growth. She was one of six people in the world with it and required a liver transplant to survive. Like many of us in the digital age, McCoy took this problem to Facebook. An old high school classmate she hadn't seen or talked to in years messaged her through the social media platform, saying he had a matching blood type and was willing to donate a part of his liver if he was a match – and he was. The surgery went well, and McCoy's daughter's condition improved.
A helmet can go a long way
Children are easy to please, and sometimes all they want to do is to be able to play their favorite video games. However, this isn't always possible for kids who are in the hospital. Last Christmas, Re-Tales told the story of a young boy who received a liver transplant during the holidays. While most children spend the season writing letters to Santa or peeking at the Christmas gifts hidden in their parent's closet, this boy was sad because he was stuck in the hospital, unable to play his favorite game, Halo. Game developing company, Bungie Studios cheered him right up, though. The organization sent him a care package complete with toys, artwork and even a custom helmet modeled after the main character's in the video game!
Holiday cheer for everyone
Not all artists get the chance to watch their work come to life. The kids in Phoenix Children's Hospital do, though! According to AZ Central, each holiday season, five children between the ages of 7 and 12 who have been in Phoenix Children's Hospital get the chance to design a Christmas card that will be mass produced, people have the opportunity to purchase the cards to send to their loved ones. In many cases, large companies pick a design and use it as their holiday card that year. The proceeds from these cards go to the PCH Foundation, which has raised $4 million dollars in the past 30 years that they have been doing this. You don't have to be in Arizona to purchase these cards either – they can be bought on Phoenix Children's Foundation's official website.
Share these stories with any travel nurses who could use some cheering up this holiday season!