Decades without celebrating Tet in the countryside
In the days leading up to Tet, at some departments in provincial general hospitals in Ba Ria - Vung Tau, the number of patients is still high. Doctor Phan Hai Dang - Head of the Emergency Department of Vung Tau General Hospital - said that during the 2025 Lunar New Year holidays, the Emergency Department is still on duty 24/7 as usual.
Currently, the Emergency Department of Vung Tau General Hospital has 11 doctors and 26 nurses, and no one takes leave during Tet. Instead, the doctors and nurses take a few days off before and after Tet to visit their families and then return to work.
Dr. Dang has worked at Vung Tau General Hospital for 18 years, which is also the same number of years he has not celebrated Tet with his parents and family. "We focus on emergency care and treatment, contributing to bringing health to patients so they can return home soon," Dr. Phan Hai Dang shared.
At Ba Ria Hospital, nurse Phan Thi Kim Dung (Intensive Care and Anti-Poison Department) has not been able to return home to celebrate Tet with her parents in Ha Nam for 20 years. Near Tet, to ease her longing, she calls to visit and talk with her parents.
“My parents are old and want my family to go home for Tet. But if we have Tet holiday, who will take care of the patients?”, Kim Dung confided.
For many years, Dung has taken advantage of the summer to visit her parents. During Tet, her parents sometimes go to the South to visit and celebrate Tet with their daughter.
Every good recovery is spring.
According to Ms. Kim Dung, the Intensive Care and Poison Control Department of Ba Ria Hospital has about 30 patients every day, but during Tet, the number usually increases by about 30%. Most of the patients are seriously ill and their families are not allowed to take care of them. Therefore, the nurses of the department are like relatives of the patients. In addition to their professional work, the nurses also do many other things such as taking care of the patients' hygiene.
“It’s already painful to be in the hospital during Tet, but those in the department cannot contact their relatives. Hopefully, our dedicated care can help patients improve their health. Every case transferred to another department is like spring for us,” said Ms. Dung.
According to Dr. Dang, work during Tet is even more difficult and stressful, when the number of patients admitted to the hospital sometimes increases compared to normal days. This makes the medical team busy and coordinate closely so that the reception, emergency care, and treatment of patients always take place smoothly and quickly.
"The atmosphere of celebrating Tet in the hospital has gradually become familiar after many years and many medical staff have become accustomed to temporarily putting aside their own joy with their families. Focusing on emergency care and treatment to contribute to bringing health to patients and helping them return home soon is the happiness of medical staff during Tet," said Dr. Phan Hai Dang.
In order to encourage the spirit of medical staff working during Tet, hospitals also organize many activities with the atmosphere of Spring such as: decorating Tet landscapes; visiting, wishing Tet and giving lucky money to doctors and nurses on duty on New Year's Eve...
