A Salute to Our Healthcare Heroes: 5 Thoughtful Gift Ideas

This year has been an extremely challenging and extraordinary time for healthcare workers, and probably in the history of medicine. They bear the brunt brought by the novel Coronavirus, and yet they continue to be at the forefront defending lives daily, oftentimes putting their own health and safety at risk.

Doctors, nurses, medical staff and even cleaners who are making sure hospitals are properly cleaned and sanitised daily, these unsung heroes who are working tirelessly deserve our gratitudes and salutes. We want to take this opportunity to honour them this International Nurses Day on May 12. While it is a day specifically to remember the nurses but truly, it is a day for all healthcare professionals.

We’ve put together some thoughtful gift ideas for our healthcare heroes. We hope you’ll find some gems to appreciate someone in your life who might be saving lives this very moment.

Safety Gift: Personal Protective Equipments (PPE)

This year, our local fashion industry came forward to collectively fundraise and put their tailoring skills to good use in supporting our healthcare workers with PPE suits. Initially started by celebrity entrepreneurs and co-founders of Fashion Valet, this effort has now been mounted many folds with Malaysia Official Designers Association (Moda), and NGO partner, IMARET. You can donate through [Simply Giving](https://www.simplygiving.com/fv-covid19-support-fund) to support this gift to protect the lives of our healthcare workers. PPE will continue to be in need for months to come even after the MCO is lifted.

Price: donation based on your goodwill, no amount is too small

Wellness Gifts

Designer Fresh Flowers

Our “Thank You” selections offer a variety of fresh flowers that come in both stylish hatbox and hand-bouquet arrangements. Flowers have the ability to reduce anxiety and stress by triggering “happy brain chemicals” such as dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin. Couple this with a thoughtful “Thank You” message to appreciate the sacrifices of our healthcare workers and this will surely cheer up their long hours ahead. Selected items are still on our Anniversary Sale until May 31.

Price: from RM89

Designer Fruit Boxes

Health is priceless for any healthcare worker. In order to take good care of their patients, they must first ensure they themselves are in the pink of health. Granny Doris Designer Fruit Box offers fresh fruits that come in bespoke boxes, making this practical gift both a healthy and stylish choice. These fruit boxes also come in playful names like You Are My Sunshine, A Healthier You, Sweet Victory, and more.

Price: from RM39

Self-Care Gift

Today, the new normal requires us to be more diligent in our personal hygiene, and regular hand washing has become a part of our lives. Healthcare workers are often cooped up in an air-conditioned environment, practice even more regular hand washing and this tends to dehydrate the hands causing them to be dry. Hand creams serve as a beneficial gift to nourish these hard-at-work hands. There are different ranges and scents of hand creams that can be found from L’occitane to Kiehl’s to Innisfree Flagship Store on LazMall. These are reputable brands with trusted quality of hand creams.

Price: from RM14

Footwear Gifts

Shoes

Comfortable shoes are vital for doctors and nurses who spend hours in the operating room, emergency wards or just walking around a hospital. Most healthcare workers wear sneakers if they wear scrubs, so foot support is important and footwear often gets worn out quickly due to their busy schedules. So there’s always room for another pair of good footwear. From Adidas to Nike to a locally-loved brand, Bata, these footwears offer the support they need.

Price: from RM56

Compression Socks

Top that up with a good pair of compression socks to make this a thoughtful gift. These socks can help to minimise swelling of lower legs or ankles and encourage blood flow, especially for those who are constantly on their feet. You can snag a pair of Scholl from Watson’s online store.

Price: RM62.80

Gadgets Gifts

Smartwatches

Time is an essence to a healthcare worker. Almost every medical staff wears a watch to keep time in check. This makes owning a reliable watch an important part of the job and in this digital era, smartwatches are a perfect gift as they also help to keep track of movements, heart rates and in-coming messages. Fossil Shopee Official Store is having sales up to 50% and is known for their stylish hybrid and smartwatch collections with Google compatible OS. For those who are budget conscious, you can get the reliable Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 4 at a steal from Xiaomi Global Shopee Official Store.

Price: from RM559.50 (Fossil, installment available) | from RM109 (Xiaomi)

Earphones

Healthcare workers work long hours and on shift duties, especially in the hospitals. This means that every brief respite in between meals or short breaks are precious. It could be as simple as just tuning in to their favourite song or two for some downtime. For this, a good quality pair of earphones provide that sense of calmness where external noises are temporarily muffled out and forgotten. Apple Airpods is well known for its pristine noise cancellation feature and excellent sound quality. But if that may be too steep, there is always an option for Mi True Wireless Earphones.

Price: from RM699 (Apple Airpods) | from RM329 (Mi True Wireless)

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If you have a family member or friend who is working tirelessly in the healthcare industry, there’s no better time than now to express your gratitude to these heroes. A simple WhatsApp message or a call to say how proud you are of them could just be what it takes. Remember them today, and every day.