The Holidays in the Hospital: Ethical Challenges of Holiday Care
- Crystal Kong
- Dec 26, 2025
- 2 min read
By Crystal Kong and Chloe Cherng, High School Students
The holidays mark a season for shared traditions, family, and cozy feasts. Yet while much of the world slows to celebrate togetherness, healthcare does not pause. The holiday season sharpens ethical challenges that are already embedded, as care becomes especially visible and emotional during this time. Examining healthcare during the holidays reveals that ethical principles are tested not only by logistical demands but also by the emotional weight of providing care when family, comfort, and normalcy are most deeply missed.
Staffing Shortages
Holiday staffing shortages are not merely logistical; they also raise ethical concerns that can affect patient safety and equity. While patient needs remain steady or increase due to seasonal illness, hospitals operate with limited staff. This environment increases the risk of medical errors and longer wait times, raising concerns about the principle of nonmaleficence. Providers may experience moral distress when they are unable to deliver the standard of care for patients. At the same time, vulnerable populations such as low-income patients and the elderly are impacted by reduced access to timely care. These holiday shortages are predictable and thus raise ethical questions about systemic responsibility.
End-of-Life Decisions
End-of-life decision-making can be complex during the holiday season, when emotions may influence medical choices. Families may request continued treatment to “get through the holidays,” even when it no longer offers meaningful benefit. This conflicts with the ethical principles of beneficence and nonmaleficence because it prolongs suffering rather than providing comfort. A competent patient’s end-of-life decision remains ethically binding even when affected by emotional concern for loved ones. For patients who lack decision-making capacity, surrogates may prioritize their own emotions rather than respecting the patient’s wishes, going against the principle of autonomy.
Emotional Vulnerability of Patients
The holidays can amplify the emotional vulnerability of hospitalized patients. Often a season associated with family and comfort, the hospital environment can be isolating, lonely, and sorrowful due to visiting restrictions, hard truths, or the feeling of guilt by “ruining the holidays” for their loved ones. This heightened distress can intrude on autonomy as patients may agree to treatments or end-of-life decisions to relieve the emotional pain they are experiencing or to minimize emotional burdens on their families. Recognizing this consideration is ethically essential to beneficence and nonmaleficence. By acknowledging the psychological weight of the holidays and offering small acts of compassion, good patient care is critical to preserve patient dignity when vulnerability is at its peak. Some ways hospitals combat loneliness during the holidays are by sending holiday cards to patients, hosting events, singing Christmas carols, and decorating with festive lights. A patient’s mom at St. Jude’s Hospital said, “It's easy to feel alone during the holidays when everybody's with family, but we didn't feel alone here.”
Works Cited
“Meet Shayla.” Www.stjude.org, www.stjude.org/about-st-jude/stories/meet-our-patients/meet-shayla.html.
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