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Celebrating Christmas in the ER

Staff at White Memorial will spend today working, attending to patients not having so merry a Christmas.

By Daniel Monzon, EGP Staff Writer

Unless you personally know someone who is working today, Christmas, chances are you’ve never thought about those people who do work while the rest of us celebrate at home or with family and friends.

“We spend Christmas as though we were at home. We have a gift exchange, so, basically, we have Christmas with the staff and the patients,” said Angie Arcelia Solorzano, a nurse at White Memorial Medical Center in Boyle Heights.

Solorzano said it’s definitely different than being with family, but adds the staff tries to make it as festive as they can, despite the busy emergency room setting.

“We are used to always being with our families on the holidays, but as nurses, we just can’t close and say ‘we’re not going to see patients’”

What the hospital staff does for their patients is comparable to what they do for each other: try and make the best out what would otherwise be a lonely time of year.

Dani Meeker has been a registered nurse for over 25 years and is very familiar with working holidays.
“When my kids were younger I needed them off, but now that they’re [older], I work all the holidays, so everybody else can be with their families,” Meeker said.

Working at a hospital can create a surrogate family, especially when so much time is spent there, Meeker said. They always try to do a potluck [meal] for the big holidays, so no one feels neglected.It is that sense of not wanting to feel left out that has stuck with Meeker since her early days in the nursing program.

“My co-workers, who had grown children, would work the holidays so that the young staff could be home with their families. So, now that my children are older and understand, I give back,” Meeker said explaining why she chooses to work on Christmas day.

Eight years ago, Felton Ruvalcaba worked his first holiday, in the beginning it was kind of lonely, he told EGP.

But “you build a family with your co-workers,” he said. “… Even though you try to make this your family, it’s not. So, you try to build that closeness,” Ruvalcaba said.

As hard as it may be for them on Christmas, it’s the family of hospital patients that find it the most difficult, he said. They aren’t always sure what’s going on, so staff members try to keep them informed and reassured by explaining any procedures their child may be undergoing.

White Memorial received 4000 toy donations this year and on Christmas Day, ER staff will distribute many of those toys to any child that comes in and their siblings.

“When we see children we give them a stuffed animal to give them that sense of spirit, that they’re not alone, they’re always welcome here … We want to make being here as comfortable as possible,” Ruvalcaba said.

Generally, he feels the atmosphere around the holidays is positive, but said this year the staff doesn’t seem to have the same [Christmas] Spirit and believes the poor economy is the reason.

And while the tone is a little different, they are still trying to maintain an optimistic attitude.

“For the most part, I’ve gotten used to working the holidays,” Ruvalcaba said. “I’m single … I don’t have any kids, so it’s pretty cool for me in that aspect. It’s not really that complicated for me, “

So there will be Christmas for staff working in White Memorial’s ER, albeit a bit different – as they spend time away from one family and with another.

“In the beginning, it’s hard because you’re not used to being away from your family, but it becomes a part of what you have to do for your patients.” Solorzano said.

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