Do you have a best friend at work?

I prefer my good friends to be from outside of work. I don't want talk about work when I'm not working.

Same boat as you, Tiger. I have those whom I like better than others and feel very comfortable with, but am not in any "charmed circle."

Except for the occasional total group get together, I don't really socialize with anyone I work with. Just go home and get hugs from my family, especially the wonderful grand!

It is good to get along with your co workers, but I would not push to be "best friends" and such. When a situation arises where the two of you a put against each other (exp. my "good friend" and co-worker made several med errors, confessed to me and asked that i help cover it up). I was torn because this was a good friend who had helped me out when I was a new nurse....

Avoid such situations...

I actually have several close friends at work, as do many of my co-workers. I think one factor that plays a big role in this is living in NYC and near the hospital. Our hospital has several buildings within a few blocks radius available to virtually all staff. So you not only see your co-workers at work, but you see them around the area outside of work. I chose not to live there for that very reason, I need some separation from work, but many of my friends do live there. There are several co-workers that were actually at my wedding, we have gone through boy troubles together, losses, celebrations, all outside of work. We are there for each other and it has not interfered with our work in the hospital. In fact, when I am out with these co-workers we often run into others as well, usually at a bar or restaurant, all hanging out together. These people are my dear friends and when we get together we try to avoid talking about work, although it inevitably always comes up but only for funny stories. I can count on these friends for just about anything, we bounce thoughts and ideas off each other while at work, and de-stress with a margarita outside of work. I don't see anything wrong with being friends with your co-workers outside of work. One co-worker was actually raising money for a charity (nothing related to work) and held an event at a local bar/restaurant, and a majority of her supporters there were fellow hospital workers! There is also my dear friend who used to work on the same floor as me but we have both moved on to different units. She is my night-shift break date. Virtually every night that we are both working, we take our breaks together, share some snacks and just unwind for a bit. When I'm looking for people to go out with on the weekend, some of the first people I call are my co-workers, and I wouldn't change anything about our friendship.

I have a couple very dear friends at work. I love them to death and would do anything for them. We meet for lunch and movies sometimes and talk on the phone about once or twice a week outside of work. Wouldn't change a thing.

I'm not a nurse yet. Not sure if it matters, but I have friends from work that I absolutely cherish their friendships. It is not uncommon for us to go out on an off night. Our friendships are great and I think we work better as a team. We are all closer to the people that work the same weekend as us. But we will go out and we get along well with the doctors and they often come when we go out. I will be sad when I graduate nursing school and have to go work in an ICU for CRNA school.

I don't have any "best" friends at work. I do attend special occasions with a few-baby showers, graduations, etc. but otherwise, I don't socialize much with them outside of work. Any job I have ever left, everyone always said "keep in touch" We never did...

I honestly like everyone I work with, but there are two people in particular who have become close friends. We all decided to get our BSN together and being in school together has really cemented a true friendship between us. We all are mature enough to understand that we don't cover for each other for serious errors or infractions, but we also help each other when we're needed. My true best friend is my husband (I know, barf) and I have closer friends that I've had longer, but at this point in my relationship with these women I would be extremely likely to continue a relationship even if we no longer worked together.

I am very close with friends at work. We go out together and even vacation together. The trick is to not become a negative click on the unit. We always welcome everyone. We post "outings" so everyone is invited and we even cross shifts so days and nights socialize. We have a really positive team. It has taken alot of work to create this.

Not everyone participates in our outings. There are a few that have the motto that they "don't s*** where they eat". That is fine too. We respect that and include them in the invites just as well.