The Hospital Grinch

Every couple of years, our hospital hires an outside company to find out why our employees are bummed out. They pay the company thousands of dollars to send out employee surveys, and to comply data into a report. The reports always reveal that the morale in the hospital is going down the tubes. Hospital administrators wring their hands, and offer cookies to the nursing staff to make it all better. This year I’m going to save the hospital a lot of money by telling them why our staff feels demoralized. Ready?
We work for the Grinch.




Traditionally, nurses and other hospital staff at our facility place few expectations on our hospital administrator. He signs our checks and says hello to employees in the hallway. However, every year the employees expect to receive a Christmas gift card that we can use at a local supermarket and a hospital Christmas party. The nurses especially look forward to the party. It’s the one time of the year when they can really dress up like princesses and go out to have a good time. Two weeks ago, the employees received a letter in the mail. It said,



“Dear valued employees:

In the spirit of the holidays, the administrative staff of the most wonderful hospital in the world sends you Christmas greetings. And oh yes, by the way, since we’re not making a lot of money this year, you’re not getting your gift card and we are canceling the holiday party. It’s too expensive to show you how much we appreciate all of your hard work. And since we know that our employees have big hearts, we are offering payroll deduction so you can contribute your hard earned money to pay for gift cards that will be given to the 120 employees that we pay the least throughout the year. Have a Happy New Year!”



The staff was thunderstruck. We knew the boss was cheap, but this letter would put Scrooge to shame. Frankly, I never go to the parties, and while the gift cards are nice, it won’t break my piggybank if I don’t get a card this year. What I’m upset about is the message Mr. Grinch is sending to the employees. He must not know that it’s not nice to put coal in the Christmas stockings of nurses during a nursing crisis. It’s short sighted, and it’s really a stupid thing to do. Someone forgot to tell him that nurses hold grudges and have a long memory.

Merry Christmas, Mr. Grinch.