You love your job, but clocking in on a holiday can be a tough pill to swallow. Especially when it’s Halloween, also known as the one day out of the year you can expect to be surrounded by “injuries” you’re pretty certain it’s okay to ignore.
Of course, working on Halloween isn’t all doom and gloom, and while seeing the (neon orange) light may take some time, we’re here to help walk you through the process. Something we assume looks a little like this:
For weeks, you’ve been dropping hints that Halloween is your all-time favorite holiday. Sweetening your coffee with candy corn, bringing lunch to work in a smoking cauldron and telling everybody about that one time you slept upside down to get into character for your vampire costume….
But the charge nurse apparently missed all your signals, because the moment the work schedule is released:
Of course, you try to be an adult about it.
But only while you remain in sight. The drive home, however, is another story.
Once there, you wage war on all the costumes you’ve been hoarding, even your signature best: Miley Cyrus meets The Walking Dead.
In no time at all, you start to become irrationally upset with anybody who is so crass as to post a costume-related photo on social media. Or, heaven forbid—pictures from a Halloween party.
For days, you can’t even look at all the Halloween candy accumulating in the break room—not even those mini Snickers bars that you’d love to incorporate as an everyday staple in your diet.
It seems like only hours ago that you were actively craving them. And now?
Finally, at night (a glutton for punishment), you allow yourself a glimpse of some of the Halloween classics airing on TV.
Long story short, you’re totally not feeling those Halloween vibes…
UNTIL…
While window-shopping on your decidedly not-Halloween day off, you notice that all the local shops are overflowing with superhero costumes.
You see everything from capes to masks to outrageously impractical belt buckles—the whole shebang, and all at a price that borders on:
And that’s when you realize that some folks look forward to Halloween because it offers them a chance to dress, feel and act like a certified hero.
A transformation (all six hours or so) that we imagine feels a lot like this:
You, on the other hand, touch (and save!) lives year-round.
Which is why, despite the fact that Halloween is your favorite-ever holiday (along with Thanksgiving, New Year’s and the 4th of July…), you’re both grateful and proud to be doing what you do—even if you’re doing what you do on October 31st.
And all the people you’ll help during your shift? They’re bound to agree.
This article was republished with permission from SCRUBS Magazine.
My ER lets us dress up a little bit, so I always volunteer to work Halloween, since I don’t have kids. Last year, I was a scaled down Harley Quinn (wig, T-shirt, and a little makeup over scrub pants.) It was great for the 8-year-old with the emergency appy who stopped crying when he found out his nurse was a movie star, but not-so-awesome for the 90-year-old with dementia who didn’t like clowns. Mostly, a lot of seniors kept asking why my T-shirt said “daddy’s little monster” and I kept pulling out my cell phone to show them a picture. I gave out candy from a batman head bucket to anyone who needed a shot, Iv, or a smile. This year, I’m planning to do a Harry Potter themed T-shirt I had made up that “Sister Jen, Mediwitch
Don’t tell the muggles! They think I’m a nurse” and give out treats from a cauldron. Most patients don’t want to be in the hospital, so anything I can do to improve their time, especially on a holiday, I’ll do it.
Worked many a Halloween night shift and the worst part was when the hospitals offered free xrays of candy bags to r/o FBs. Never found a single one but sure added to the chaos.
Worked with a crew medsurg unit, and on Halloween we would all wear vampire fangs!! ” Mr. Smith, I am here to collect your blood!” With broad smile. Patients loved it!