Lonely new nurse/ do you have nurse friends?

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Do you have nurse friends? I am so thankful that I have a job as a new grad & I even lucked up in a hospital. Unfortunately, I think (at the moment) this has cause a slight strain on some of my friendships formed in nursing school. I am the first of my friends with this opportunity. I am hopeful & encouraging to my friends, but it is obvious that things have changed. Currently, I am in orientation & I hope once I am on the floor & others have warmed up to me...I'll gain more friendships. I am just bummed, wanted to vent, and wanted to know if anyone has been in a similar position. I plan to join organizations outside & w/in the hospital & also volunteer because I am passionate about being an active contributor. I am very friendly & out-going, but I am curious if anyone has any other ideas or ways they made nurse friends? Lord knows, it is nice to have those relationships!

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

Give it time and let your work relationships develop naturally and gradually over time. If you appear too eager and too "needy," it can be a real turn-off. Also, rushing into new professional committments and relationships too fast can also get you involved in a bunch of c*** that you will only regret later.

So ... take a deep breath and take it easy. If you are friendly, the good types of relationships will develop in their own time.

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Specializes in Gerontology, nursing education.

I have found some wonderful friendships among the folks here on AllNurses. There are truly good people here.

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Love ya Moogie!:kiss

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Specializes in LTC, Hospice, Tele, ICU.

This may sound korny but as I age I have really discovered who my true friends are. The people I hung out with in nursing school were cool and we shared an awesome, and tough, experience together - but that's just it....it was a passing phase of my life. I have 1 good friend with whom I still remain close friends with. I'm lucky for her and I pray she feels lucky to have me as her friend.

I've also met, and worked with, lots of nurses over the past 4 years and can honestly only count a few as true friends and not mere acquantances (sp?).

Like the others said take your time, be a team player and friendships will come your way. Having nurse friends is nice and on the flip side having friends who are not nurses is also nice. My mind needs a break from nursing, and anything related to it, at times.

Congrats on the new job :)

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The change of environment from school to work is a big one, and the social culture at work sure is alot different than the social culture at school so please just be aware of that.

Also, are there other ways you can keep in touch with your old friends: email, facebook, lunches once in a while.

Also, there are alot of great afterwork activities that may have the kind of people that you like. For example, nurses may become involved with a particular type of extracurricular activity. Funny thing that where I am from, florida, I have met many nurses in after work clubs like kayaking, and rowing.

Sometimes hospitals offer discounted exercise classes for the employees. The often have a gym on the premises which would allow you to meet your fellow workers in an after work environment. Some hospitals have different organizations like a cooking club. Once in a while a group may go to a football or baseball game which may be a fun way to get to know your fellow nurses.

The work environment is alot different than the school environment, and not everyone in the work environment is looking for a good friend but what is needed initially in the work environment is a competent coworker. Sometimes lasting friendships may be found outside of work, not to say that you will not find friends at work; but while you are developing your relationships at work, take a look at clubs outside of work.

Post your thoughts, ideas or concerns.

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Be very careful about friendships your form at work. Take this time to realize that not everyone can be trusted and you should not be completely open and speak your mind with everyone. Be nice, courteous, and warm, but never let them see something you do or hear something you say that they can hold over you later. You don't know which of your coworkers is truly nice, and which one will be nice to your face but run back to the charge nurse and make sure she knows that you took an extra 2 mins coming back from break and that you didn't know what to do when something happened to one of your patients.

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Specializes in Cardiac Care, Palliative Care.

You don't have to make nurse friends specifically in order to not feel lonely. Go out, volunteer, join a gym, bookclub, ect. Sometimes you just have to meet and befriend people the good old fashion way. Do you have any friends at all? Or are you just interested in making friends that are nurses? You have to be open-minded regarding meeting true friends, even if they're a housekeeper or secretary.

If more nurses is who you want to meet just to talk about nurse related topics, then allnurses.com is an excellent place to meet other nurses to chat with.

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Specializes in multispecialty ICU, SICU including CV.
Be very careful about friendships your form at work. Take this time to realize that not everyone can be trusted and you should not be completely open and speak your mind with everyone. Be nice, courteous, and warm, but never let them see something you do or hear something you say that they can hold over you later. You don't know which of your coworkers is truly nice, and which one will be nice to your face but run back to the charge nurse and make sure she knows that you took an extra 2 mins coming back from break and that you didn't know what to do when something happened to one of your patients.

:yeah::yeah::yeah::yeah::yeah::yeah::yeah::yeah::yeah::yeah:

Absolutely.

Always be professional at work. Be very careful who you share your personal information with. You need to be there long enough to make sure that what you are saying is safe with the person before you get too close to anyone. In theory, work is a good, easy place to make friends .... except for the rumor mill. NEVER underestimate the power of gossip.

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Acquaintances are a dime a dozen.

Friends are rare. To me a friend is someone willing to lay it all on the line for me.....yes, rare indeed.

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Specializes in experienced in 11 areas of nursing.

It is very normal to loose contact w/your pals from nursing school, look at your self about to start orientation (congratulations!) and planning to be a volunteer among other goals. Your life is starting to get busy again so, yes is easy to loose communication and feel lonely after all those months together w/your classmates. Therefore, when it comes about starting new friendships in the workplace, taking it slow while maintaining a professional and friendly approach would be beneficial in the long run. Besides you have many friends here at all nurses and no strings attached. ;)

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While you are developing those relationships with new friends, you may consider learning about some activities that teach you more about you. You know getting to spend time with yourself doing things that you like: maybe a new hobby that you have always been interested in, some new skill that you thought would be so much fun, writing, music, art, new sport, or just maybe a growth class, by that I mean class that you would find really personally fun.

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