Nobody volunteers to run the unit holiday party. It just happens. One year you bring a crockpot, and the next year you’re in charge of 40 people across three shifts who all have opinions about secret Santa.

Here’s how to pull it off without it becoming your second job.

Make the potluck work for every shift

• Run it over 24 hours, not one lunch. Night shift should get food that isn’t cold leftovers.
• Use a sign-up sheet by category: mains, sides, desserts, drinks, paper goods. Otherwise you get eleven bags of chips.
• Label everything with allergens. It’s a hospital. Somebody has a nut allergy.

A gift exchange with rules

• Pick a price cap and actually say it out loud. $10 to $15 works for most units.
• Use a quick gift exchange form: favorite snack, coffee order, “please no more” list. It saves everyone from buying another mug.
• Make it opt-in. Not everyone can swing it in December, and that’s fine.

Cheap gifts that land

• Good pens (you know which ones). Nurses steal pens like it’s a sport.
• A fun badge reel.
• Lip balm and hand cream for hands that get washed 80 times a shift.
• Snacks for the 3 a.m. slump, tied with a tag that makes them laugh.

Don’t forget the break room

A sign for the break room, a stack of holiday notes for coworkers, and treat toppers for the cookies someone’s mom made. Small things, big morale.