Center finds way to make holidays more meaningful
Center finds way to make holidays more meaningful
Staff boost morale, image with idea
Want to boost staff morale and your community image with one effort? Consider this inspired idea from the staff at AtlantiCare Surgery Center in Egg Harbor Township, NJ.
As the December holidays approached last year, a few members of the staff decided not to exchange gifts with each other. Instead, they thought of helping needy families in their area. The idea spread through the staff members who, along with some physicians affiliated with the center, decided to help four local families. The staff previously had been involved in charitable giving by shipping more than 70 boxes of supplies and clothing to a former employee who was working at a hospital on the Gulf Coast that had been depleted by the 2004 hurricanes. "We already were in a gift-giving mode, and we expanded it to the holiday time," says Francine Daley, RN, CNOR, director of nursing.
Getting the staff involved
The staff organized the effort and contacted a local charitable group to find needy families. At meetings, staff had the opportunity to select family members by age groups. One mother had requested only food for her family, but the surgery center staff went beyond that request and contributed gifts and clothing, as well as holiday dinners, for all the families. Some of the families choose to pick up the items at the surgery center, which gave staff members the opportunity to meet them, Daley says. "It gave them a better connection and a spirit of giving at Christmas time," she says.
The event was a morale booster for staff, Daley says. "I think that gave them more of a focus of working together as a team and providing something for people in need rather than just exchanging gifts among each other," she says. "It brought everyone together with one goal."
Additionally, the center received positive publicity from the local newspaper and the newsletter distributed to AtlantiCare organizations.
Source
For more information on helping needy families, contact:
- Francine Daley, RN, CNOR, Director of Nursing, AtlantiCare Surgery Center, Egg Harbor Township, NJ. Phone: (609) 407-2200. E-mail: [email protected].
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