Denise Barber, a registered nurse at Spring Valley Hospital, looks for a patient's chart. Nurses at Spring Valley will be treated to meals served by hospital administration in honor of Nurses Day. Photo by Marlene Karas/VIEW
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Hospitals in the Southwest will be partying a lot this week. In the name of both Nurses' Day and Hospitals' Week, Spring Valley, St. Rose San Martin and Southern Hills hospitals will be serving their employees -- literally.
All three hospitals have taken to the idea of having their executive management teams serve line employees lunch, and at least one employee seems to rally behind the idea.
"It's kind of nice to see the managers in hair nets," said Denise Barber, a registered nurse.
Employees at Spring Valley Hospital, where Barber works, will be treated to a sit-down Roman feast, served by hospital administration and managers, complete with the "wait staff" sporting togas. Later in the week, Spring Valley's staff will be served barbecue, and morning shift employees will be treated to a pancake breakfast.
"We like to make it fun and festive," said Karla Perez, chief executive officer of Spring Valley Hospital. "The executive serves the employees. It's a way to give back, and we convert the cafeteria into a gourmet restaurant. They expect it every year, so we try to outdo ourselves."
According to Annette Kinsman, director of marketing for Southern Hills Hospital, employees at her place of employment will be treated to a gourmet breakfast and barbecue, also served by hospital executives.
"We've ordered special gifts for the employees and the executive team will be handing them out," she said. Southern Hills Hospital executives also plan to serve ice cream sundaes toward the end of the week.
Employees down the road at St. Rose San Martin will be treated to a down home barbecue served by their executive staff. The barbecue will feature a live DJ, spinning the tunes for hospital employees.
"It's a very exciting week for us," said Tammy Kline, St. Rose's spokeswoman. The hospital group is kicking off its 60th anniversary festivities, Nurses' Day and Hospitals' Week with one big celebration.
On May 10, St. Rose will host a nurse appreciation dinner, to be held at the Henderson Convention Center for nursing staff from all three St. Rose campuses.
"We want to show appreciation to our nurses, and all our employees," Kline said. "They are a key part to providing health care to our community."
Barber, a labor and delivery nurse, enjoys Nurses' Day at her place of employment -- especially the Starbucks gift card she hopes to win at the annual raffle.
"You usually win something," she said. "They give away $25 Starbucks gift cards, massage gift certificates and some other things. I think almost everybody gets something."
In addition to the raffle, Spring Valley Hospital provides cakes, chair massages and chocolate gifts to all nursing units in celebration of Nurses' Day. Southern Hills hospital is providing chocolate fountains to its employees for the first time.
"That should be a lot of fun, we haven't done that yet," Kinsman said.
"While we work hard, it's also important to have fun," Perez said. "Health care is a different profession. We bear a burden. You always have to be on -- you can't have a bad day."
"I love it because a lot of times you just get the negative feedback," Barber said. "It's nice to be patted on the back for the jobs that we do."
All employee events at the hospitals are completely free for the hospitals' staff.
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