Going out with your co-workers (Mixing Business with pleasure)

[Plumrose15153]

Hi,

I'm having trouble discerning whether or not it's professional to go out with coworkers or not. I see the pros of it as well as the cons what are your stories? & ultimately do you think it's beneficial or not beneficial to go out with coworkers?

Thank you

[PugRN]

I'm curious about what originally made you concerned about socializing with your coworkers? I'm ultimately quite concerned with the pervasive idea that nurses must give up all notion of autonomy simply because they are RNs. Socializing with your coworkers is an excellent potential source of satisfaction for you as a person. Socializing will help you develop relationships with people from many diverse backgrounds and career trajectories. You should of course modulate your behavior to a certain extent when you are socializing with people you will see frequently, but you'd have to do that sort of thing if you weren't a nurse anyway. There's nothing about being a licensed professional that should strip you of the rights that you'd have as any other citizen. Nurses go out dancing, nurses go to Vegas for long, crazy weekends, and by God, nurses like myself sometimes drink margaritas until we're silly (not in uniform, not the night before we have to be up at 0500 for work the next day, etc.). PLEASE, if you like your coworkers, go have fun with them!

[nifty_n]

My rule for every job that I've had and will have in the future is that I ALWAYS keep my work life separate from my personal life. But it's definitely not unprofessional. People from my job get together occasionally but I always opt out.

[ICU_UcMe, BSN, RN]

I work with some of my friends from nursing school. I'm not going to stop hanging out with them simply because we work together now.

[cwentworth]

It depends on what you mean by "socializing". I think that "socializing" with co-workers outside of work can be great for team-building, developing trust and improving morale. Dinner, movies, shopping, baby showers, or sports activities are all fun group activities to do together. However, "partying" with co-workers can be a tricky situation. I think we all can agree that alcohol does not facilitate or promote healthy professional boundaries. Prior to agreeing to go out with co-workers, it may be wise to find out what, where, how, and who. I don't mean to over-analyze, but you may need to consider the structural hierarchy of those going out (Do you want to hang out with someone who you are supervising?) and the group dynamics (Do they all get along?). There is a way to have a social life, maintain professional boundaries and have a good time - just be thoughtful about how you do it.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

There's a big difference between having a drink with your coworkers and drinking with your coworkers. When it comes to socializing with one's peers, I'm a strong believer in practicing only the former.

[rehric00]

Right! Some of my best friends are also Co workers. However, we are all ICU nurses and don't have drama. We all work very well together. Actually, most of the nurses are very good friends with each other. I think that's why we pull together so well!

[DontStealMyPenRN]

I have a very strong opinion about this issue. The ONLY reason that I'm staying in my current position is because of my co-workers. I consider many of them friends. We've undergone some really difficult changes on our unit in the past few months, and many nurses have left. I believe that my co-workers and I have been able to support each other through all of this because of the strong bonds that we previously established years ago. I have had multiple opportunities to leave the unit for a different position within the hospital, but I've continued to decline because I think about what it would be like to work with people that I might not enjoy being around. I won't be in this position forever, but for now I can't imagine being anywhere else.

I can see why someone might feel differently, but I must respectfully disagree. We consider ourselves a family and work well together because of this. Other shifts (I work night shift) envy our level of teamwork and our ability to socialize outside of the hospital. We don't always get along (what family does?), but at the end of the day, we do what we need to do to ensure our patients are taken care of. We are not afraid to consult one another with patient concerns. We are more sympathetic towards one another if we know someone's personal life is particularly challenging at the moment. We lift one another up after a tough shift and come back the following night ready to tackle the next one. I wouldn't trade my team for anything!