Couples working on same unit

duckie · Jul 27, 2001

For my husband and myself, working together is great. We always work the same days and hours. If one is offered OT they automatically know it's both or neither. At least 2-3 days each week my husband works my unit and he has no problem with me being "his boss." We make a great team and we always have a good night when we work together. There are several other couples that work together where we do, but they all work at the same level. We are the only couple where one is a supervisor. We also have several mother/daughter teams and lots of BF/GF teams. It all comes down to doing your job and when we are at work, we focus on our jobs, not on being married. I even had to write my hubby up twice and he took it very well. Just part of the job and he knows I'm fair, but we all make mistakes and I would have done it to anyone else and at work, he's a co-worker, not my husband. We are best friends and most folks are really amazed that we can be together 24/7 and never argue. I think the last arguement we had was about 3-4 years ago. I would only recommend working with your spouse if you are very close and get along good outside of work, otherwise it could croud your relationship and let's face it, no job is worth ruining a marriage. We have worked together for nearly 11 years now, as a matter of fact, we met at the last place we worked. We have been married going on 9 years. For us it works, hope it does for you too!

Jenny P · Jul 27, 2001

I see no harm in it if it is at all possible for you to do. We have a young couple right now working in our unit who have been dating for about 6 months, and they have kept it from the general staff knowledge during that time. I found out about it about 1-1 1/2 months ago; she works 8 hour nights full time and he works 12 hour nights full time. I do think she isn't getting enough sleep at this time because she's getting migraines, so I think working similar hours would help them out. They have maintained a very professional relationship at work, and most people aren't aware that they are dating- which I do think would be hard when you are just starting a relationship. And, as Duckie says, if your relationship is good it can work.

MollyJ · Jul 27, 2001

I've worked with one couple where the wife was an RN and the husband and LPN and they had been married a long time and it worked well. We had a RN/UC combo date and marry and I think she left the unit shortly after marriage. Her decision.

I've worked with a number of people who's spouse worked somewhere in the hospital.

Interestingly, most of the time, it worked well, but I can well envision it not working well and then you just have to have a strong supervisor. As someone I know said, it is not surprising that people meet and marry from their work places, so it is going to happen. Also hospitals will hire and accomodate these people in there own interest. As for similar schedules (same weekend off etc), why would you as a couple do it any differently? You've got to maintain your "coupleness".

My hubby and I met on the job. Married, we try really hard to stay out of each other's territory. It is simply less complicated. But when you work in midsize towns, eventually you work together professionally. He's a doc and I tell him he cannot call me "honey". It is just too much of a stereotype--doc patronizingly calls nurse "honey", even though I know he doesn't mean it that way. (Believe me, he doesn't call other nurses "honey".) We've had a few difficult moments when our roles conflicted. We both agree we'd rather come together at the end of the day and have "different" work days to discuss.

debbyed · Jul 27, 2001

When I used to work prn at the nursing home my husband worked at it worked very well. I could probably work with him on most units of a hospital; however I am a Senior Clinical Nurse in the ER which means when I am there I do Charge. We would not work well in this situation because my husband is protective of me. He would not be able to stand by and let me deal with a pisses-off patient, a mouthy patient or a violent patient. Heck he'd probably be fired in a week, if not arrested for assualt.

I think a supervisor needs to talk to both people as a couple and individually and make a decision based on his/ her "gut instinct".

kewlnurse · Jul 27, 2001

I go to work to get away from my wife.

NicuGal, MSN, RN · Jul 28, 2001

In our hospital married couples can not be on the same unit, and you have to have special permission to work in the same unit as a relative. They feel that this will keep the family member from sheltering the other one, or covering up for something. In a way, it isn't a bad idea.

night owl · Jul 29, 2001

it's just not allowed at the va either. i'm with you kewl . i know that i could never work with my husband and live with him too!!! i give alot of credit to those who can. if it works out for both of you, that's great!