Nursing is more than a job — it is a calling. People who share this calling can connect with one another on a deeper level, allowing them to forge strong relationships that last a lifetime. As a result, members of a nursing staff often feel more like family members than coworkers. 

Strong Bonds Form

Daily, nurses are faced with a variety of challenges not present in other professions. Nurses are constantly on the move, running from one patient to the next with no time to rest, eat or even use the bathroom. You deal with complicated situations involving non-compliant patients, angry family members and ambiguous instructions from doctors.

Together, you share the physical and emotional burden that accompanies being responsible for someone else's well-being. When patients' conditions improve, nurses rejoice as a group. When a patient takes a bad turn or passes away, you mourn as a group. 

All these experiences lead to unbreakable bonds among members of the nursing staff. 

Your Nurse Family

When your coworkers become like family, you have found a way to make your professional life nearly as meaningful as your life at home. Rather than working with people you barely know or force yourself to tolerate, you are working with people you care about.

It’s an unrivaled support system, and it often lasts long after you’ve changed jobs or retired. You find yourself inviting your coworkers into your personal lives and spending time together outside of the workplace as close friends.

Travel Nurses are Family Too

Although a travel nurse may not work with the same group of coworkers for long periods of time, he or she still builds strong connections with these individuals.

Many travel nurses make lifelong connections during each of their assignments. Over time, travel nurses may even find that they have "homes" and "families" all over the country. Although it may be difficult to be separated from these "family" members, the travel nurse has an extensive support network that cannot be beat. 

Nursing is difficult, but it comes with many rewards, and an extended family is one of the best ones.