The Ultimate Travel Nursing Holiday Wishlist: 2019 Edition

Ask any travel nurse what they want for the holidays and they’ll most likely say sleep or the demise of the charting system. While you probably can’t give your travel nursing friend eight hours of sleep or the possibility to hire a charting assistant, you can give them one of these extraordinary gifts that keep your travel nurse going past the home stretch.

It’s hard to find the perfect gift, but if you know a travel nurse, we’ll try to point you in the right direction and find something that they’ll love. And if you’re a travel nurse, share this list with your loved ones and drop some (not so subtle) hints 😊.

TRAVEL NURSE MUST-HAVES

Scrubs

Scrubs are a nurse’s second skin. Making sure they find a pair that’s comfortable and stylish is extremely important! We’ve compiled a list of some of the most popular brands with nurses across the web.

GIFT IDEAS

Grey’s Anatomy by Barco: These scrubs and stylish, emulating the prestige that comes with being on a prime-time television show. But these scrubs aren’t just made to be looked at – many nurses have called them the most comfortable scrubs they’ve owned. If you’re looking for a pair of premium scrubs, Grey’s Anatomy is a great choice.

Cherokee: Cherokee scrubs are more traditional – thick, stiff fabric ensures that you’re protected, and the fits are a little looser and wider. However, they also have different lines for all different body types, like their Cherokee Infinity series, which accommodate any body size. These are great scrubs for any nurse, and more affordable than other expensive scrub brands.

Amazon Essentials: For the nurse that needs scrubs and isn’t hung up on the style or fit. Amazon makes reliable and affordable scrubs – buy a few pairs for a nurse in your life so that they don’t have to worry about getting new scrubs anytime soon!

Coffee

Along with air, water, and food, caffeine ranks as an essential part of most nurses’ daily needs. So why settle for anything less than the best? Here’s a few gift ideas to make sure your travel nurse is always properly caffeinated and prepared for long shifts!

GIFT IDEAS

Coffee Subscription: get delicious & diverse coffee delivered to your door weekly or monthly. This Christmas gift will continue year-round to your coffee-loving nurse! There are tons of options, so do some research and find which coffee subscription is right for the special nurse in your life.

Portable Coffee Maker (AeroPress Go): For the nurse that never wants to be caught without a cup of coffee, a portable coffee maker is a great choice. It’s easy to use and can be taken anywhere.

Travel Mug (Contigo Autoseal Travel Mug): When you’re working 12-hour shifts, you’ll have to put up with a lot of cold coffee – unless you have a great travel mug. For the nurses who run on hot coffee, getting a mug like the Contigo Autoseal, which keeps drinks hot for up to 5 hours.

Gift Cards

While some might consider gift cards a lazy gift, they’re a godsend for travel nurses. When you’re packing up all your possessions every 3 months for your next assignment, a new crockpot isn’t exactly a blessing. Gift cards allow a nurse to feed themselves, stay caffeinated at Starbucks, or enjoy a spa day without taking up any room in their luggage.

GIFT IDEAS

Starbucks: Buy a special nurse a few cups of coffee to get through those long shifts with a Starbucks gift card.

A Favorite Restaurant: With the turmoil of moving to a new facility and getting around a new city, even the most organized nurse will appreciate a meal out where they don’t have to worry about food prep, cooking, and clean-up. Give them the gift of dining out guilt-free by giving them a gift card to their favorite restaurant!

Amazon: Let’s face it: at this point, Amazon gift cards might as well be cash. You can buy almost anything on the world on Amazon, so a gift card will make the perfect gift for a travel nurse who know what’s best for themselves.

Hand/Foot Cream

Nursing is a very physical profession. Nurses are constantly sanitizing & washing their hands with high-strength soap, which can leave hands dry. They’re also on their feet all day (or night), running from one patient to the next. Here’s a few products that will make sure their hands and feet are well-cared for:

GIFT IDEAS

Neutrogena Norwegian Formula: Named after the nationality of the fishermen for whom this cream was created, this cream is great for revitalizing hands that do physical work under extreme conditions

O’Keefe’s Working Hands: Another hand cream for the hardest workers out there. This cream alleviates dryness and cracking and is one of the top-selling hand creams among all professions.

CeraVe Hand Cream: The CeraVe brand is routinely endorsed by dermatologists as one of the best creams for dry, sensitive skin.

Burt’s Bees Hand Salve: With all the handwashing and sanitizing nurses do, it’s important to find a treatment that works! This solution is a salve, meaning it’s made of oil and beeswax for a longer & stronger effect than creams or lotions

Gold Bond Ultimate Healing: Many nurses swear by Gold Bond. You can’t go wrong with it, or any other cream on this list. Check in with your special nurse to see what their preference is!

SPECIAL TRAVELER GIFTS

Portable speaker

When you’re traveling across the country, it’s nice to be able to fill the car or your apartment with the soothing sounds of your favorite music or podcasts.

Camera

Smartphone cameras are becoming better and better, and you’re able to take nearly professional-grade photos with your iPhone. However, if you know a travel nurse who’s in it for the adventure and wants to turn their travels into a work of art, consider getting them an awesome digital camera that will preserve memories from their travel nursing assignments forever.

Travel Guides

Any travel nurse can get across the country using Google Maps… but there’s so much along the way on any adventure that Google Maps won’t tell you about. That’s why a travel guide for the U.S. is a great gift for travel nurses who want to get the most out of their travel nursing adventures.

Compression socks

Another staple of the travel nurse wardrobe. Compression socks provide a variety of benefits to nurses, like increased blood flow and reduce swelling. A great pair of compression socks can make all the difference to a travel nurse – Pro Compression, Sockwell, and Sigvaris are a few brands that nurses swear by.

Portable Charger

When you’re traveling, reliable outlet power isn’t a guarantee. You need to make sure your devices are charged up, and this is what makes a portable charger so helpful. Just charge the power pack, then you can charge your cell phone at any time, even without a wall or car charger. This is great for camping trips, overnight excursions, and other travel nursing adventures!

STOCKING STUFFERS

There are tons of small things that can make a huge difference in a nurse’s life. Consider stuffing a stocking with any of the following: Pocket size lotion, lip balm, pocket tissue pack, high-quality pens, highlighters, non-sweet snacks like crackers, popcorn, nuts, a post-it pad, and vitamin C lozenges.

We hope this list helped take a little stress out of your holiday shopping! To make it even easier, consider sharing this list with a travel nurse in your life, and seeing what they’d pick. For the travel nurses out there, we’d also love to hear which gifts make your life as a nurse better!