Hello y'all! I am wondering how friendly you are with your coworkers. I have read quite a few posts in which someone says s/he doesn't engage in ANY personal discussions or sharing, joking, anything beyond what is required to do the job.
So, how is it for you? Do you consider your coworkers as your "friends"? Do you socialize outside work? Do you share personal stuff--kid's antics or achievements, if hubby's in the doghouse again ( ;-) ), health scares, fertility challenges, money worries? Any of that stuff that you would talk about with a girlfriend? Are there coworkers that you tease, maybe call by a special nickname? Do y'all joke around, help keeping the shift light? Is there a little rough, salty; sailor talk used when needed, lol? Chat your way through a "break"? Ever had a impromptu sing-along with some classic Madonna on the unit radio or challenge that CNA to a "dance-off" in an empty room at 0200?
***Note: I do ALL of the above at work, but my patients are taken care of in an extremely compassionate and competent way at ALL times. I hope no one misconstrues any of the above to mean that patient care is not absolutely freaking awesome at my hospital!***
I consider most coworkers as friends. Went to a wedding for one recently, and baby showers for another two day-shifters. Us night-time girls are helping a widowed LVN think of ways to ease back into dating, giving her dating ideas/advice.
I go to the gym often with my "best" work friend when we get off in the morning; often there's a couple more, depending on who worked that shift. We do potluck dinners monthly and "celebrate" each others' birthdays with a cake.
This system works GREAT for us. There is an occassional "loner" (for lack of a better word)--no big deal, we respect that.
We are pretty friendly at work. Some are more "open" than others and some are much more quiet than others depending on the crowd. We all hang out outside of work on occasion but that's about it.
I met my best friend at my current job. I was a new grad nurse, moved 1700 miles away from all family and friends to work straight out of school in the CVICU. After a few months, became really good friends with the day charge nurse (I work nights). We share very similar backgrounds and I dunno.. We just clicked and she became family.
We have made it a point to keep our friendship separate from work and so far (almost a year later), we are still able to do that. As far as everyone else there...we're cool. Some I have hung out with but nothing like my BFF.
I will go out with people outside of work, but as for sharing personal stuff? Unless you want the hospital to know, be very careful. I was dumb and thought I could trust people when I first started as a nurse (but it can apply in any job field, expecially where women are involved-and I'm a girl) and I got burned a few times before I got it. There are probably 2 people I could tell personal stuff to and know it would stay between us. There are people I pal around with, but it's not deeply personal, we just go out and have fun/drinks, plan work potlucks, etc and that works just fine :-)
My fiance works in a really large ED. They are pretty tight knit and honestly it makes me crazy. They go out after work, they know each other's dirty laundry, honestly the entire place is a hot bed of some pretty salacious behavior.
As for me, from previous experince I will craft a rather dull and uninteresting persona for myself while I am at work. I prefer to keep work and the "real me" seperate because I know from experince how quickly things can escalate. I want to do my job, be helpful and kind, and then go home. I know this sounds crass but I do not care what my coworker's children did. I do not care what color they painted their bathroom, and I will not insult them by pretending that I do.
turnforthenurse, MSN, NP
3,364 Posts
We are pretty friendly at work. Some are more "open" than others and some are much more quiet than others depending on the crowd. We all hang out outside of work on occasion but that's about it.