GoodHolidayStore planning guide
A Med-Surg Unit Party Without Three Half-Run Games
Your unit party has a lunch table, a stack of good intentions, and people arriving at different times. Give it one shared moment: a scheduled picture bingo round, with a single activity waiting for everyone outside that slot. Open with a thank-you that includes the whole unit, nurses, CNAs and unit secretaries alike. A timetable full of games nobody gets to finish helps no one.
Write the invitation for the whole unit
List who's coming before you choose the activity. The Med-Surg Nurses Week Games Bundle names med-surg nurses, CNAs, unit secretaries, charge nurses, and nurse managers among its audience, which is a good starting point when more than one role is celebrating.
The bundle includes 25 activities, a Quick Host Guide, and answer keys for objective games. Named options include Nurses' Station I-Spy, Name That Unit Gear, Health Care Timeline, and The Lost Badge. Browse the directions and pick the one you can explain most comfortably.
A mixed group often prefers a page they can work through together to a spotlight performance. Thinking about Act It or Draw It? Ask whether your people will enjoy standing up in front of colleagues. If you're not sure, keep a quieter page on hand.
Keep the invitation plain: appreciation lunch, optional activities, one announced bingo start. People can decide how to join once they know what you're asking. "Games sometime" leaves everyone guessing whether they've already missed the main event.
Set up one corner that runs without a host
Pick a bundle page for the table and put its directions with it. The Quick Host Guide helps you decide which supplies belong beside that page. A game isn't ready just because its player sheet has reached the printer tray.
For a quiet start, look at Nurses' Station I-Spy or another individual activity. Tell people whether they're playing casually or handing in answers. Keep the matching answer key in a labeled folder so the bingo caller doesn't pick up the wrong pile later.
The bundle identifies Would You Rather as unscored, which gives a small group something to talk about without totals. Let it end naturally when people head for lunch or the shared game begins.
A free option: write a conversation prompt yourself, like asking colleagues to name a small thing that improved their week. Put a few prompts on ordinary paper. You'll have something welcoming to offer even if one purchased game is all you use.
Put the shared round where everyone can hear it
Med-Surg Nursing Bingo gives you 50 different player board arrangements, 36 matching calling cards, a caller checklist, a host guide, and printable tokens. The pictures include a heart monitor, IV pump, IV bag, and hospital bed. Use it for the part of the gathering where people can follow the same calls.
Pick the caller's seat before the room fills. They need space for the draw pile, drawn cards and checklist, plus a clear way to show each picture. A caller wedged between serving trays will spend the game rescuing cards.
Deal a different board to each player, hand out markers, and mark FREE before the first call. Say whether you're playing for a row, column, diagonal or full card, and keep that fixed all round so everyone is hunting the same finish.
Read each picture label exactly, show the image, and keep drawn cards together. When someone calls a win, check every square in the claimed pattern against the pictures already called. Share simultaneous wins, then clear boards and reshuffle the whole calling set for another round.
Sort out paper and markers before lunch
The bingo download has four editions: A4 and US Letter, each in one-per-page and two-per-page layouts. They contain the same 50 cards. Pick the format that fits your paper and the card size you want people to use.
The complete two-per-page Letter set uses 29 sheets instead of 58, before extra token copies. Print only the player boards your guests need, plus the host pages. Leave Pages per Sheet at 1, because the two-per-page PDF already contains its paired layout.
One sheet of 36 printable tokens covers one player. Multiply by the people actually playing, or bring removable markers of your own. Stack each board with its markers so nobody waits while you split one little pile across the table.
| Before the gathering | On the table | With the caller |
|---|---|---|
| Selected paper-size PDF | Different boards and markers | Complete calling set |
| Sample print checked | Optional individual activity | Checklist and host guide |
| Calls and tokens cut | Clear bingo start note | Space for drawn cards |
The emoji sheet: save it for the right moment
The Nurse Emoji Game offers 20 clues, a complete answer key, and a host guide. It's a general nursing appreciation game, supplied separately from the med-surg bundle. Pick it if your group likes decoding pictures into familiar nurse-themed words.
The listing suggests 5 to 8 minutes for the guessing round. A4 and US Letter files include single-page and two-per-page options. Give players the clue sheet and hold the answer key back until you check guesses.
It works as a seated alternative when a caller-led round doesn't fit, and it doesn't need to become a third scheduled event. If everyone is happily eating and talking after bingo, let the spare copies stay spare.
Finish by thanking the unit and leaving the next organizer a tidy set of remaining pages. Keep the bingo calling cards together and file each key with its activity. Then you can stop hosting once the organized part is over.
Questions and answers
How do I include CNAs and unit secretaries?
Name them in the invitation and pick an activity everyone can follow. The med-surg bundle lists those roles among its audience, so review its directions together.
Do four bingo PDFs mean 200 different boards?
No. All four editions contain the same 50 boards. Pick one paper size and layout, then print the number of boards your group needs.
Do we need the emoji game as well?
No. Add it only if you want a different guessing format. One game plus more time for lunch and conversation is a perfectly good party.