14 Creative Holiday Gifts for Medical Professionals
Finding the perfect present can be tough for anyone, let alone medical professionals. This year, give the doctors, nurses, vet techs, and practitioners in your life the best present possible with these 14 creative holiday gifts for medical professionals.
With the holiday season in full swing and just a few weeks to go, it’s high time for you to have a present handy. But it isn’t always easy to pick something your giftee will love, and there’s few things as embarrassing as a gift that goes unused, or completely unappreciated.
The Best Gifts for Medical Professionals
Thankfully, if you’ve got a doctor or nurse in the family, you’ll have plenty of gift ideas to sort through – medical professionals are practical people and will appreciate anything that makes their tough lives just a little easier. Below are over a dozen top-quality gifts for medical professionals in need of a little help at work, or some proper stress relief.
1. A Top Shelf Stethoscope
Yes, even stethoscopes come in a varying number of qualities. Some stethoscopes fulfill the bare essentials and hang like a chain around your neck – others are the Corollas and Civics of the stethoscope world, reliable and abundant.
But if you want to treat your doctor friend or loved one to a real present, skip the sedan and go for the sports car. Stethoscopes come in several varieties for different professionals, so your top choice will depend on what specialty your giftee is in. Just remember that the best choice is likely going to be a 3M Littmann.
2. A Foot Care Kit
Hospital floors are not exceptionally kind to feet, and medical professionals spend an inordinate amount of time getting their steps in. Don’t let the abundance of pens and paper in a hospital fool you – being a doctor or nurse can be a very physical job, one that’s demanding on the feet.
Sometimes, you need to treat those feet properly. A good foot care kit can be a godsend, and a great way to relax on an off day and administer a little solo foot care.
3. Hand and Foot Salve
While the feet are subjected to long shifts spent standing and walking, hands will often be subjected to a different kind of overuse: the overuse of sanitizers and disinfectants.
Sterility and hygiene are paramount in a hospital or clinic, but all that hand washing, scrubbing, and cleaning can come at the cost of healthy skin, rendering hands hard and tough, and the skin dry and unhealthy. Moisturizing hand salves from Kiehl’s, Burt’s Bees, and other top-quality brands are highly appreciated.
4. High Quality Footwear
Salves and foot scrubs can help soothe and take care of dry, cracked skin and tired joints, but addressing the primary culprits is also important.
If you know that your friend or loved one spends hours upon hours of their day in the same old pair of uncomfortable sneakers or cheap clogs, splurge a little for them and treat them to a proper pair of shoes designed specifically for medical professionals. Shoes with a wide toe box, arch support, a strong and springy heel and grippy sole can save them from a lot of extra foot pain, and the ensuing posture issues.
5. Ideal Compression Socks
Good footwear can save the joints and make life easier, but it doesn’t eliminate what happens to legs that spend too much of the day standing still. Nurses struggle with circulation issues from long shifts – a good way to keep the blood flowing and avoid varicose veins or cramped muscles is a pair of top-quality compression socks.
These ensure that blood keeps flowing through the legs and back to the heart, avoiding some of the strain that comes with a busy medical job.
6. On-The-Go Espresso
Coffee might be your friend’s lifeblood, their absolute best friend, the most important thing in the world – but it isn’t always easy to get a good cup, especially on a busy day or on-the-go. Thankfully, we live in a day and age when nearly everything is being optimized and made smart or tech-integrated, and espresso is no different.
Today’s portable espresso machines live up on the drink’s original meaning: a quick shot of natural caffeinated goodness, delivered as fast as possible.
7. Pet Toys
If your friend or loved one has a pet and no one to take care of them most of the time, then good pet toys will always be appreciated. Pets get lonely just as humans do, and there’s nothing worse for a pet than being alone.
Plenty of products try to alleviate some of that loneliness for pets with busy and single owners, through ideas like the Kong Classic, or the Petcube. Additionally, these can help owners stay in touch with their pets over longer distances.
8. A Beautiful Pen
We might be in the digital age, but if you’ve ever had a nurse or doctor as a friend, you’ll know that taking notes is practically ingrained in their soul. They’re always on the lookout for a good and comfortable pen with ink that won’t blot or fade, and they might even have a favorite.
If you aren’t sure what kind of pen they like using, you can’t go wrong with top recommendations for medical professionals, like a good rollerball pen.
9. Undergarments Designed for Athletes and Professionals
Being a nurse or doctor can be physically demanding, and there isn’t always time for a mid-shift underwear or shirt change. To make sure your skin and body stay healthy and dry under those scrubs, it’s important to pick out undergarments that launder easily, don’t promote fungi, and stay clean.
Athletic wear that’s moisture-wicking and odor-repelling is a good option, and synthetic is usually better than organic (as long as it’s comfortable and durable).
10. The Best Scrubs
The same goes for scrubs. Good-quality scrubs are cut to fit, while remaining flexible and breathable, with cloth that doesn’t stain easily, remains dry, wards off foul odor and stays antimicrobial.
You can also get a pair of themed scrubs if you want to help your friend perpetuate the holiday cheer.
11. A Good Pair of Earphones
More than just a way to stay entertained or catch up on some podcasts/audiobooks on the way to work, a good pair of earphones can be useful to stay focused when doing paperwork, or to help with dictating to the phone and taking notes while keeping the hands free.
Earphones that are sweat-friendly might be appreciated as well, especially if your friend is active outside of the hospital. For doctors and nurses that enjoy swimming, consider a pair of underwater earphones.
12. A Fitness Tracker
A medical professional’s lifestyle can be extremely busy as is, so ways to help them keep themselves accountable and manage their health better might be appreciated (emphasis on might).
Jokes aside, fitness trackers are plenty in-vogue right now, and a good way to ensure that you aren’t cheating yourself and are getting in those daily steps.
13. Weighted Blankets
Sleep hygiene is important, but just getting those eight hours in any which way is even more important. Doctors and nurses often struggle to do so, and it’s a bad idea to start relying on medication to get to sleep.
There are plenty of other ways to try and get sleepy – weighted blankets are a great tool and can help a nurse or doctor get a little shuteye between shifts.
14. A Day at the Spa
Gifts for medical professionals don’t always have to last, and experiences can be nice too. Gifting a long and expensive day at the best local spa is especially nice, as being a medical professional can often mean struggling with a variety of little pains and aches from long shifts and poor sleeping habits.
Conclusion
Practicality is key. The life of a nurse, doctor, or medical technician revolves largely around their job and daily responsibilities. It’s tough being a medical professional, but there’s plenty of ways you can make their lives easier with these gifts for medical professionals.
