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When a friend or family member is in the hospital, it is natural and certainly appropriate to want to take something to the hospital that will be viewed as a display of your concern. Sometimes, however, it is difficult to decide just what that "something" should be. You want to contribute items that the patient can use, and maybe even supplies and time-fillers for those who are keeping a vigil watch in the waiting room or in quarters with the patient.
A basket is a good receptacle for arranging small gift items. A gift bag such as those purchased in the wrapping paper section of most stores is also an alternative. Gift suggestions can be broken down into categories of Patient and Family/Friends. Each will be discussed in detail.
For the Patient
Gifts for the patient need not be expensive. There are many items that will bring comfort to someone who is recovering from surgery, injury, or illness.
1. A small bottle of lotion is so often appreciated by one who is recovering in the hospital. The constant cleansing with antiseptics can leave hands dry. Try to avoid scented lotions as these may be irritating to someone who has allergies.
2. Lips are often chapped as well. Anesthetics and certain medications dry out the mouth. A lip balm is a serviceable contribution to any hospital gift basket.
3. Mints can be a welcome addition to the supply of small gifts. Again, anesthetics and medications can leave not only a dry mouth, but a bad taste.
4. Patients are encouraged to drink water but it is sometimes difficult for them to sit up and negotiate a glass or cup. A plastic water bottle with an attached straw can prove useful in those situations.
5. A package of wet wipes is usually appreciated by a patient who is unable to take showers. A wet towelette is soothing and refreshing to someone who is confined in bed.
6. Hospital rooms are typically kept rather cool and a pair of footies or sleep socks is a gift thought that is usually appreciated.
7. Toiletry items are sometimes left at home in the haste of preparing to leave for the hospital. A comb, small mirror, razor, nail file, toothbrush and toothpaste are items that might be missed.
8. As the patient begins to progress and feel better, days of boredom may set in. Magazines, poetry books, crossword puzzle books, and other written sources of entertainment are nice additions to the gift basket.
For Family and Friends
Hours spent in hospital waiting rooms while loved ones are in surgery or emergency facilities can be devastating to the nerves of family and friends who can do nothing but wait. Time seems to drag on indefinitely, increasing the sense of helplessness that those waiting sometimes feel. Gifts to family and friends should be designed to fill the time and perhaps distract thoughts of worry, if just for a few moments.
1. Magazines are an obvious choice, although these are often provided in waiting rooms. However, families who have been stationed in waiting rooms for several hours may go through all of the reading literature of interest to them and be eager for more. A gift of magazines tailored to the tastes of those waiting is usually received joyously. The bundle of reading could include magazines that appeal to men and women, teenagers, or children who might be waiting with parents. When time is invested in selecting magazines that "match" their recipients, the gift takes on a personal element.
2. During periods of long waiting, whether in lounges or in the recovering patient's own room, a great deal of money can be eaten up in snack foods. A cooler of soft drinks and a bag of snack food and fruit not only relieves the family member from the expense of constantly buying these items, but it provides a cache of them on hand. This allows the family member to have a snack without fear that the patient will need his or her assistance during the time it takes to leave the room and buy it.
3. It is often the responsibility of those sitting with the patient to call other family members and friends who are not able to physically be at the hospital. These calls must often be made at pay phones. A welcome gift is a roll of coins for the task.
4. A humorous book is a gift suggestion that can benefit both those waiting and the patient as well. Such a book should be one that is written in small sections and is easily readable in small segments of time. When patients are recovering from anesthesia, they are usually not able to focus well enough to read on their own, and a light-hearted book that can be read to them helps fill this time for patient and family.
Other suggestions that may be added to a gift basket arise out of the knowledge of an individual's personal tastes. Start with these basics and allow creativity to take it from there.
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