QUINCY, ILL. -- On a day many of us get to spend with family and friends, we can't overlook the many people still hard at work.
For nurses and doctors at Blessing Hospital, it's just another day at work. We took a trip to the inpatient floor Tuesday afternoon to see how staff manage to make a day at the hospital feel special for both their patients and colleagues.
"Everyone that you see, whether it's dietary, housekeeping, maintenance, nurses ... everybody is just in that Christmas spirit and they've got smiles on their faces," Sheryl Sullivan said.
Sullivan has been a registered nurse at Blessing Hospital for 35 years. She's spent her share of Christmases at the bedside of thousands of patients. The key is making the day feel special.
"Everything is real light and happy and even with our patients that aren't feeling well, I think they can feel the atmosphere, with it being a special day," Sullivan said.
Whether it's a different menu, Christmas music filling the nurses station or the decorations, the holiday cheer is meant to spread light on those who may be going through a rough patch.
"We try to keep it as cheerful as possible. We know the patients don't want to be sick. They don't want to be here. But we try to make it the best experience possible for being that it's a special day," Rosabla McCoy said.
This is McCoy's first Christmas working the inpatient floor.
"We remind them that they will be home to see their loved ones soon and a lot of them get visitors, so that's a nice thing for them," McCoy said.
If not family and friends, sometimes, you'll find it's the nurses that pop in for an extended visit.
"We spend as much time as we can being in the room with our patients -- 'Is there anything you want? Is there anything special we can make you? A milkshake?' -- We just try to be right there for them," Sullivan said.
Treats around the hospital are not hard to come by this time of the year.
"Doctors send us cookies and candy and sweets ..." Sullivan said.
Besides ... you have to keep the staff in good spirits, too.
Nurses on staff go through 12-hour shifts. So, by 7 p.m. Tuesday, another round of Christmas cheer will have welcomed each patient on the floor.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKHQA