The management in any organization will set the tone for the atmosphere of the facility. Health care is a serious business and shouldn't be taken lightly. However, that in no way means that the staff should not enjoy their jobs and the company of those they work with.

You will spend a major portion of your life at work with your coworkers. It's important for you to get to know them in order to have a better understanding of who they are and what is important to them. Your coworkers will become like family in the best of situations. Like family, there will be your favorites and those you wish would just move out or grow up. Get to know a little about each one and you'll have a better insight into whom they are professionally.

You know that the cranky woman named Susan who works as an aide also cares for her bedridden elderly mother. She works full-time. While she is at work, her sister cares for her mom and when she gets home, her sister goes to work and she assumes the care of her mother. Usually, it's bedtime for Mom and Susan can get some rest, but some nights, Mom is up all night demanding attention. Susan tries to be cheerful, but her responsibilities at home are taking a toll on her. What energy she has is spent on the patients and she is very short with her coworkers.

If you know that Steve, one of the LPNs, lost his five-year-old daughter to leukemia about three months ago, you'll have a better understanding of why he always begs to switch patients if he ends up with a cancer patient. It is unfortunate that the nurse making the assignments hasn't taken the time to understand this or apparently has no sensitivity to his issue.

If you know that Judy, one of the R.N.s, has two teenage latch-key sons who report in when they leave for school and when they get back home, you'll understand why she takes a quick personal call almost as soon as she arrives in the morning. Her husband is in the army and has recently been deployed out of the country into a very dangerous situation. She and her sons have this pact to stay in touch to help reduce their stress levels. (Otherwise, non-emergency personal calls are really frowned upon.) But everyone seems to understand because they know about it. In fact, if the boys don't call, the unit secretary goes looking for Judy to find out why.

In some facilities, the administration encourages a playful atmosphere to help reduce stress and to encourage a strong team effort. There are several approaches to this kind of work environment. One of these has come to be known as the Fish Philosophy. You can learn more about this at www.fishphilisophy.com. It developed at Seattle's Fish Market Place and has evolved into a whole program of learning to have fun at work.

The premise of most of these programs is for each individual to focus on what he or she brings to the team including attitude and ability to focus each day and a challenge to find ways to make work fun and to help each other.