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

It's horrible. You try your best with 'silly' Xmas dress up, having a buffet, music etc etc, but nothing disguises the fact that you're still at work on a special day whilst your family are at home, regardless of how worthy the service you're providing. I hated it, and that was without DC. Part of the reason I left.

I've worked a mixture of shifts over the years but we mostly are resigned that every other year we will have to work Christmas where I work. Last year I did Christmas Day night shift which I didn't mind at all, family here to help with Christmas dinner, a post dinner nap and I was off to work before the kids got over tired. Family all went out for a walk on Boxing Day so that I could sleep in peace. This year I finished on Christmas Eve and am lucky to not be back in until New Year's Eve night.

I think how you feel at being at work partially depends on the attitude you have going in to it. My ward has a lot of staff in each shift, around 25, plus Drs and physios so we make it into a party. Our consultants all contribute to buy us buffet food and on New Years Eve night we all contribute to run a non alcoholic bar in an empty side room. None of us really want to be there but neither do our patients so we make the best of it for them.

My family understand that I have a job to do and that the patients need me so they really don't mind. We plan lots of things in advance so that we don't miss out on anything. I volunteered for lots of Christmas shifts pre children and I'm fortunate now that the nurses without children volunteer to do the majority of the long days on Christmas Day.

My grandad was a Dr, my dad was a nurse and I'm a nurse so Christmas has always been a moveable feast based around the NHS.

The years where no small children/partners' families were involved we always just nominated the day least affected by shifts as the main Christmas day and did the usual Christmas day stuff then regardless of what date it was.

Now there are small children with expectations around dates, and lots of various in laws to factor in, it is harder not to miss out on stuff.

Where I work you can't avoid working, (there's no leave all December) and the work itself is very much the same as a normal day - very unwell patients with distressed relatives and loads and loads to do.

I find Christmas incredibly hard as most people are in holiday mode for a whole fortnight whereas last year I did 50 hours in Christmas week and this year I'll have done 40 by midnight tomorrow. Everyone expects me to be fully engaged when at home (we host guests throughout) and we've met up with friends, gone on a santa visit, National Trust place etc in addition to my shifts.

It is what it is. It's an essential service and I'm proud to be part of something most people value.

I worked a 12 day shift xmas eve, and was due to work the same 7am til 7pm xmas day. Thankfully a wonderful colleague offered to work the first half of the shift for me. So I got to see my children open their presents and we had a nice breakfast together. Its very hard to leave them to go to work but they do understand that I have to go.

I have 2 young children and a 16 year old, the older one is proud of what I do, so knowing that the younger ones will hopefully eventually feel that way certainly helps.

We had xmas dinner once I got home. (All be it a simpler one than we would have had)

It's different, but you just have to make it work. The hardest bit is probably the organising of everything knowing you won't be there to actually see it all unfold iykwim.

We do wear silly xmas hats and bring buffet food and the usual rules are more relaxed, but ultimately we still have a job to do, and certain things that you deal with do feel more pronounced or upsetting on xmas day in particular.

One of my crew members was assaulted by a patient yesterday, that was particularly disgusting to deal with and meant both myself and the others involved had a late shift finish dealing with the aftermath.

I own a boarding kennel.
We were up at 6:30am to do first walks and breakfast. We cancelled 2nd walks but I did tell customers I was going to do that.
Lunchtime, I did walks and paddock play whilst my dh started lunch.
We ate mid afternoon and after washing up, did tea time walks.
Last walks we did to be in to see Bake Off.

The dc's are fine with it, they got to open their presents about 08:30 and we also had time to play a family board game, a tradition that we buy a new one each year.

We chose this lifestyle so it's something we just have to do and enjoy doing.

I worked in intensive care one year and nights on medical admissions other years - it’s shit really. It feels like everyone else is behind a frosted screen in an alternate reality doing lovely things in cosy homes. Much better than being a patient though - that really sucks

I’ve worked on Christmas Day maybe 8 or 9 times. I was lucky that I never had to work the whole day, just morning or evening.

If it was the morning then the kids would have stockings before I went and then wait to open the rest of present, have lunch etc after got home. If it was evening then we did things earlier. Many years I’ve had all the family here, having cooked lunch for them and then had to go out to work of the evening.

I didn’t like doing it, especially when the kids were small. But I knew I was making a difference to the people I cared for, so I’d put on a smile and a Santa hat and try and brighten up their Christmas. It was always fine once I was out and working and at least I was making a difference to others.

NHS. I enjoy it, the atmosphere is usually lovely and we have fun, bring lots of treaty food in and enjoy ourselves. Patients and relatives tend to be in good spirits too. Ultimately it's just a day of eating isn't it so we move the main event to other days. We've had curry on Christmas day before and done the roast the next day or if I've been on nights eaten early Christmas day and I've seen the kids open presents then napped.

I'm a community carer and we just work our normal rostered shifts so this year I'm on every day over the special days. I don't mind it tbf, I love the job anyway and the roads are that bit clearer which is nice. What breaks my heart is how many clients see nobody but carers and see us as their families by proxy.

#SnorkMaiden81 your brother sounds amazing! I love the idea of children playing in his car on Christmas Day! Made me cry!
To everyone who has worked this year a big thanks!

I work 24h on stat days when rostered to them. We get up early for breakfast and presents so that when the phone rings at 8, I’ve seen the boys for a couple of hours.

After that - it’s work. I’m an anaesthetist so covering theatres, icu, obstetrics and ED resus. The canteen is closed and there’s no food available anywhere else for staff (kitchen is also closed with preordered meals for patients only) so I either take enough in to last or DH will drop some off during the day.

If I’m lucky enough to go back home for any part of the day then my children do get sad when the phone rings again. We’ve had scenes with me at the door and an angry ten year old clinging on to me in tears. It’s better as they’ve got older but still makes me feel rubbish.

Last weekend I worked 21h of the 24, dozed in a chair at work from 5-8am (had a couple of phone calls during that) so I was relatively safe to drive home and then slept all day. It makes both the work day and the day after a total washout.

And now the same angry ten year old - slightly older now - tells me he wants to be a doctor 🤦🏻‍♀️

Just to say a big thank you to all you NHS folk who work over Christmas. DD was in hospital til xmas eve this year and the staff were fantastic, they truly did everything to get her home for her first Christmas.

I left the house at 7am and got back at 10pm (worked 8-9).

Youngest was up at 5.30 am for presents.

Am currently at work again (nightshift tonight). It’s bollocks.

@SnorkMaiden81 I absolutely agree with you, thank you to the emergency service workers, police, fire, ambulance workers, nurses, midwives. I have often worked Christmas day, boxing day etc. It is just part of the job, but we made it enjoyable for ourselves and others. There is a nice atmosphere on the day and everybody supports each other. We worked on a rotational basis so everybody took their turn.

and let families who were out for walks on Xmas day have a sit in his car and press the lights and sirens

I be that was the best bit of Christmas Day for them.

Your brother is fab.

I worked Christmas Day night shift this year.

I got up at 7am with my youngest child and watched her open presents.

Went back to bed after lunch at 2pm, slept until 6pm when my older child came home from his dads.

Watched him open presents and then left for work. Worked a 12 hour shift and came home.

So was rubbish in that I was very tired at work from having very little sleep and other than present opening I missed all the family time. Plus I then slept for Boxing Day morning so also missed that time.

My older child understands, my younger one gets upset. She doesn’t understand why I’m sleeping not playing with her and when I’ve worked the day shift on Christmas previously she was very upset and spent most of the day ringing me at work for quick 30 seconds calls while trying to calm her down.

My work colleagues are fab however and we try and make it bearable for each other by doing secret Santa, bringing in nice food etc.

My Christmas is now done so I can enjoy the next 2 years off now as well! We work on a 1 in 3 rota. So year 1 you do Christmas Eve and Boxing Day. Year 2 Christmas Day and year 3 New Year’s Eve or day. Makes it fair for everyone.

Forgot to add I’m a midwife so there is something very magical about delivering Christmas Day babies that helps make it bearable. I imagine it’s much much harder for this working with seriously ill patients.

My sister worked at an overnight psychiatric unit from Christmas eve to Boxing day. We held back the presents from her and when she came home we opened them with her (and obviously the presents to her). She missed Xmas dinner but she's not that into it anyway. She's got a couple days off now.
It's not every year as the medical staff take turns doing it.

I worked Christmas Day most years but worked nights so managed to spend quite a bit of the day with and went to bed for a couple of hrs after dinner.

Over the years I’ve done hospitality, retail and essential services work over the Xmas period (not healthcare or emergency services) and it can be really variable. Hospitality probably the best as everyone is quite jolly and it was never a full day, either early or late shift so there was still some family Christmas time. Retail is unpleasant but Christmas Day was better than a Christmas Eve or Boxing Day!

I work in healthcare & have worked every Xmas/new year bar 2 over the last 13 years. Would usually do the Xmas shebang on the 24th. My children are grown though so weren’t little. Would have hated to have to missed Xmas morning when they were small. At least where I am pays double time & a half for public holidays, am shocked to read so many of you only receive Sunday rates. 💐

We worked Christmas Day and for the first time I took DH and DS and DD (15 and 13). DH and DD cooked Christmas Day lunch in a dementia care home for 20. I did a mixture of caring and cleaning and DS sort of helped !

Left the house at 7.30am and got home at 3pm.

We all had a great sense of achievement but I didn't have to work on Boxing Day.

However coming home and cooking again was too much and it did feel like we rather rushed presents and cooking. With hindsight we either should have had our official Christmas Day on Boxing Day or I should have left DH and children at home to have lunch ready when I got home.

But the kids working on Christmas Day was definitely something I'd encourage again. I think they were pretty proud of themselves too.

When I worked in A&E I used to volunteer to work a double shift on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to let those with DCs spend time with them (I had none at the time). That gave me Boxing Day off, which is when most of the festive sport is played.

I used to find A&E great on the 25th....people only turned up if they really had to (which is the way it should be anyway) and most were in fairly high spirits anyway because of the day. Nobody ever moaned about the wait time, because it was never that long.

Although I have to say my worst ever shift as a qualified nurse was a Christmas Eve.....we had three cardiac arrests and a cot death. The eldest of the arrests survived (70 odd years old), the other two didn't (both in their 50s), and the parents of the cot death had to leave their child to go home and prepare Christmas for their 5 and 7 year olds. Carrying that poor child from A&E to the mortuary through a Christmas party going on in another part of the hospital will live with me for the rest of my life.

@Takethebullbth my work is a flat rate for everything - Min wage regardless of nights or public holidays so I don’t even have extra pay to soften the blow!

I quite enjoy working Xmas. I prefer to do a late shift (2pm-8pm) so I can be there in the morning when the kids open their stockings. The atmosphere at work is usually really nice and there’s LOADS of food. I’m in maternity so it feels really special and there’s always loads of excitement to see who’ll have the first Xmas baby. We had one awful year when we had a baby born for palliative care only and a stillbirth, both in the early hours of Christmas morning. The whole ward was very quiet and sad that year.