By Faith Macale
During the holidays, most people would be home with friends and families, but one place you wouldn’t expect to be busy would be a hospital.
This isn’t always the case, with Western Health’s Footscray Hospital staff getting ready for the holiday rush.
Emergency department nurse Alicia Kane is a veteran to Christmas Day shifts at the hospital.
“I kind of like working Christmas,” she said.
“I like it because you get a lot of people who don’t have a very nice Christmas Day, so you get to make an extra effort to try and make someone else’s day a little bit nicer.”
Ms Kane will be working the morning shift on Christmas Day, which gives her time to spend with her family as well.
“Our work is also our family, so you get to spend Christmas with your work family,” she said.
“That’s what I really like.”
On the admin side of things, Mary Scuticcio sees families visit their loved ones at the hospital on Christmas Day.
She said visiting hours on Christmas Day are pretty lenient so families can spend lots of time with their loved ones.
“I’ve seen them come in and visit with Christmas hats, they bring flowers, and some will bring gifts,” she said.
“I do wish them a Merry Christmas and hopefully, they (patients) get out of the hospital soon.”
Footscray Hospital’s intensive care unit nurse Charmaine Malapitan said staff were aware that Christmas is not a happy time for everyone.
“We know it can be a lonely time for many people,” she said. “If you could find someone to be with, spend the special occasion with a special someone.”
Ms Malapitan is working a night shift this year, and will be celebrating with co-workers with food and laughter.
“I’m hoping it’s not gonna be too busy because everyone will be celebrating,” she said.
“Then again, you can’t really control when people get sick or not so we’re always open.”
Radiographer Steven Pham is also working on Christmas Day and despite his expectations of a busy shift, he hopes everyone will stay safe during the celebrations.
“I’m expecting quite a few patients to come in because of falls,” he said. “That’s generally what makes up a good portion of the patients.
“They come in, they’ve fallen and they fracture something.
Because it is a day of celebration, it might be the case of “too much fun”, but Mr Pham said to always give patients the benefit of the doubt.
“Some circumstances just happen, they just fall and it’s not any fault of theirs or anyone else’s,” he said. “Please do be safe out there at this time, and try to do things in moderation so you don’t end up in a hospital.”
“That’s probably the last place you want to be.”
