7 Graduation Gift Ideas for Recent Nurse Grads

Nurses deserve a great deal of respect and appreciation, even if they’ve just recently graduated from nursing school. Choosing to embark on a career in this demanding field takes a great deal of dedication and a passion for helping others. Making it through nursing school requires a lot of sweat, tears and sleepless nights, and it is a huge accomplishment that deserves to be celebrated. This is especially true at a time like right now when nurses and healthcare providers are helping us fight off the coronavirus and putting their lives at risk to help others.

Whether you are looking for the perfect gift for a brand-new LPN or RN or you need something special to commemorate a friend’s accomplishment of becoming a nurse practitioner, there are plenty of options out there to choose from. Keep reading to find a few of our favorite graduation gifts for recent nurse grads!

Nice Scrubs

The vast majority of nurses wear scrubs. While they’re available just about everywhere, some are much nicer than others. If you are looking for a gift that will make the recipient feel great every time they go to work, consider ordering some Katie Duke Scrubs. Designed in collaboration with nurse practitioner and female empowerment influencer Katie Duke, these scrubs are comfortable, sporty and come with fun and powerful messages.

If this particular brand isn’t quite the recipient’s style, there are plenty of other cute scrubs out there to choose from. Ones featuring children’s characters are a fun choice for nurses who work with kids, while styles featuring flowers, animals and other fun designs are more appropriate for nurses who work with adults or treat a wide range of age groups. Consider the nurse in your life’s tastes and you’ll surely be able to find some high-quality scrubs they’ll love showing off at work!

A Spa Day or a Massage

The recent nursing school grad in your life has worked hard to reach this important milestone. Reward them by treating them to a spa day or a massage. You can give a gift certificate as a gift, or you can plan a day where you’ll both get services together.

After completing a rigorous nursing program, your friend or loved one could definitely use some pampering! This type of gift will allow them to unwind and enjoy being cared for by someone else for a little while, rather than always being the caregiver.

Smartwatch

If the special nurse in your life doesn’t already have a smartwatch, consider gifting them one. These handy devices allow them to do much more than just keep an eye on the time. They also track steps, monitor heart rate and can even clue your pal on their sleep habits. While the Apple Watch is the most well-known smartwatch, there are plenty of other options out there to choose from that would make a great graduation gift.

Personalized Tumbler

Nurses spend a lot of time running from one place to the next, and they don’t always have much time to slow down and enjoy a drink. Making sure they have their own tumbler that they can carry with them is a smart way to help them stay hydrated while on the job.

Tumblers can be personalized in multiple ways, and there are options for both hot and cold beverages. Whether your favorite nurse prefers to fuel up on hot coffee, iced tea or even soda, gifting them a personalized tumbler will help keep them going through even their most challenging shifts.

Nursing Reference Cards

Your favorite nurse may have already passed all of their exams, but they still may need to look some things up from time to time. Scrubcheats Nursing Reference Cards are pocket-sized clinical cheat sheets that provide vital information regarding cardiac, critical care, pediatrics, labs and more. They grant quick access to important information and are designed to fit neatly in scrub pockets. The cards are color-coded for ease of use, too, and enable nurses to find “must-know” information in a matter of seconds without needing to check their phones.

Quality Nursing Shoes

Nurses spend a lot of time on their feet, so they need comfortable footwear. While nursing shoes used to be pretty bland and boring, they come in all sorts of stylish colors and designs now. Sneakers and slip-ons are some of the most popular styles. Chances are, the special nurse in your life already has their eye on a certain pair of shoes that they’d love to own. Talk to them, and offer to buy them the comfy shoes they’re dreaming of. This is a gift that will be appreciated every time the recipient is on the clock!

If shoes aren’t in your budget or you aren’t sure what to buy, consider nursing socks. Socks that are specially designed for nurses are made to be comfortable and alleviate fatigue. Support socks even provide moderate compression to energize and invigorate the legs so your favorite nurse can stay comfortable during their long shift.

Local Restaurant and Coffee Shop Gift Cards

If your friend or loved one is like most new nurses, they are going to be incredibly busy. They’ll be spending a lot of time at work, and when they’re not working, they’ll likely be studying at home to make sure they know everything they need to know to do their job properly. As a result, they might not have much time for things like preparing home-cooked meals or even making their own coffee in the morning.

While it might feel a little impersonal at first, giving local restaurant and coffee shop gift cards is actually a great way to give a new nurse some much-needed TLC. When they can’t find the time to cook dinner, having a gift card to a local restaurant could be the difference between having a nice meal or having a bowl of cereal for dinner. And, of course, coffee shop gift cards make it easy for new nurses to fuel up on caffeine on their way to work.