To ask what it's like working Xmas day?

[pancakes22]

I'm completely in awe of NHS staff and other public services that work on Christmas Day and just really curious what it's actually like, especially when you have families?

Do you still get to see your children open presents? Do the kids understand you have to leave to work or do they get upset? Do you resent that part of the job having to work on Christmas and everyone is grumpy at work or is it just an accepted part of the job?

Well done to everyone who does have these valuable jobs and thank you x

When child free I offered to work Xmas day - I didn't mind and there was always a good atmosphere. I would catch up with my family later and we would have a second Xmas. I've been use to this as my dad always had to work Xmas. It's really not the end of the world if you have to work. That said, I retrained after having DD so that I had a job that didn't need me to work shifts or work holidays. Now she is a bit older, if I needed to, I would go back to working shifts including holidays.

It’s a bit shit tbh

You preprep everything so the family has a decent time
Miss it all
Work like a dog doing the work of ten people whilst feeling desperately sad for those too ill to be at home for Christmas
Get home then my DH desperately ‘needs a break’ after dealing with the kids all day so I do a pile of family stuff like cooking/cleaning/bathing/playing with/settling kids whilst feeling knackered and grumpy
Get called all night
Go back in
Repeat over and over for a week.

No fun, but that’s the job and at least I only do it one year in four.

My dh works at sea (private company) and last time he worked he left on dec 14th for 3 weeks so no he didn’t get to see any of the festivities but he equally doesn’t get resentful as it’s a part of his job.

No fun. I was nightshift. Didnt get a second rest throught the day. Was a taxi for people. No glass of fizz with my dinner and exhausted at work.

It really depends.

You miss the entire day. I had to leave at 7am and got home at 9:30pm.

Some years it’s great. All the staff are feeling jolly, the patients are making the best of things and also trying to smile through. All the normal rules are relaxed, so visitors come and go whenever they like, there’s loads of lovely food floating around, and all the staff have silly headgear on.

Other years the staff spend the whole day moaning about how they’re missing Xmas at home, and the patients are grumpy because they’re stuck in hospital too. Then it’s a really crap day to be at work.

We don’t get paid any better really either. It’s just normal Sunday pay

I've done it in the past when I worked in a big teaching hospital. I had 3 DC at the time and took my turn with everyone else. It was ace, carol singers and presents on the wards, great feeling of belonging, we finished early and went home to family to eat xmas dinner in the evening grateful that I wasn't stuck as an in patient.
However i am an AHP so other professions may experience it differently, but all my NHS colleagues were ace x

Depends where you work and what you do. My dad was a farmer so he always worked on Christmas Day, but he'd be back from morning milking by about 8.30am so we did presents then, and he had to go to do afternoon milking about 4pm, so lunch had to be at actual lunchtime to be finished in time for that.

I worked last year. Wasn’t too bad I saw my kids in the morning then had a late dinner. Sadly it’s something that needs to be done

My Brother worked Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day on duty as a Police Officer.
He attended numerous violent domestic incidents, had a knife pulled on him and also found time to park up in a public place and let families who were out for walks on Xmas day have a sit in his car and press the lights and sirens.
Between all this he raced home with little sleep to ensure his own two boys were happy and loved.

He and his colleagues are fucking heroes and I couldn't be more proud of him.

Hated it with a passion. A love Christmas and hated missing out.

Depends really. I’ve always had nice Christmas days at work, in that we send as many patients out for the day as we can then try and make the best of it for the patients that are left. Generally there’s food around.

We have Christmas Day on another day with my DC, we’ve done it on Boxing Day before. They’ve always been young enough not to understand but now they’re bigger it may be different.

I dont work many christmas days but normally do the other key days. Christmas day is normally busy, unfestive and soul destroying. Its like the customers are deliberately seeking you out as they dont celebrate christmas, its normally not urgent pointless stuff we deal with

I worked Xmas eve, yesterday and today too. We had family Xmas Dinner and presents at DPs mums last weekend.

I don't mind, the pay is worth it, DP on call for work too and went to 4 call outs.

We don't have kids so I think that makes a huge difference.

Also going away for a weekend in Feb for our 'Xmas break' as work is quiet then.

We do the holiday the night before when I work major holidays. Works for us

I move Christmas to a day I’m not working, shifts are generally 8am-8:30pm so you miss everything.
Personally I’ve found them exactly the same as any other out-of-hours working, rushing round sorting sick patients out, but with slightly more chocolate available.

My sister works Xmas day 3 in every 4 years. I used to work throughout Xmas. DH usually on call over Xmas.

We just pick the important bits and do them on a day that suits us. The sky has never fallen in.

It’s not easy!
I remember one year waking the DCs up at 4am - crazy I know but they’d probably have woken at 5am looking to see if FC had been.
This was so I could see them open their presents from FC before I went to work at 06:30 for an Early shift as an NHS nurse.

I did my best to make it as happy an experience as possible for the patients and staff then went home to have our Christmas meal with a very tired family.

DH runs a restaurant so he worked 9am til 7pm serving Xmas dinner.
It’s shit as we have three young kids.
But he’s the manager so he can’t have it off.
He hasn’t had a Xmas day off since 1998

I don’t really mind. I’m emergency services so it’s geniunely vital work which sweetens it. Also double pay helps!

I tend to just do Christmas another day. There’s generally a good atmosphere and it just is what it is. I did very much enjoy having Christmas off this year though!

My dad worked many christmases. He didn't mind. He loves his work (NHS) and actually neither did we, but, like you op, I am in awe of him and anyone else who does it. I came close to working xmas day in a hotel I used to work in, but the rota changed and I got NYD instead. I would have minded that little bit, as I wouldn't even have felt especially noble doing my job and the guests would have all been shit faced / hungover, but it would have been ok. NYD i had to work from 7am and the guests were soooooo hungover at check out. All stank of booze. Quite funny as I'd obviously had to stay in and stay sober the night before. Mean, hotel receptionist schadenfreude 😈.

It's a bit shit tbh.

It's OK. Bit sad leaving the kids though.

NHS so necessary (and no extra pay for working it!). Definitely sad seeing people come in unexpectedly unwell.

Am grateful that it's not every year for me.

I’m not in healthcare but I worked Christmas Day yesterday. Workwise it’s quite hard going, and lonesome, though my work is office based. I get a taxi to and from work as there’s no public transport. There’s no extra pay. I have today off but will work NYE and NYD. My children are now older teens and early 20s now and two of them both worked Christmas Day. We do Christmas in the evening when we are home or move it to the next day.

I worked xmas day late, still had lunch at home and saw kids open pressies. Very little is different apart from slightly less patients and less staff. A&E looked less busy but was running on skeleton staff so guess wait times were as bad as usual.

I did it when I was in emergency services for ten years. It was just an inevitable part of the job, so a bit meh, but this was pre-DC so that would have made it harder. People I worked with who had DC just accepted, reluctantly, it was what they had signed up for.