When Silvia Amaro and Vivian Derr first began working together at a California medical office, neither had any idea how close their relationship would become or that it would endure for more than a quarter century. Silvia was a Latina allergy nurse from south Texas; Vivian, a Euro-American pediatric nurse-practitioner from Pennsylvania. Silvia’s work responsibilities included assisting physicians, meeting walk-in patients, making phone assessments, and scheduling appointments. Vivian, who was Silvia’s supervisor, did all of these tasks plus oversaw the nursing staff. Working together daily, the two quickly made a deal to manage patient visitations by splitting the workload.¹

Silvia and Vivian’s workplace collaboration evolved into a close friendship as the two nurses began sharing personal information with each other. As their friendship deepened, the women’s home lives and work lives became intertwined. Silvia’s youngest daughter babysat Vivian’s son. Vivian gave Silvia’s boys sports physicals so Silvia wouldn’t have to make time to bring them to a doctor.

After several years, Silvia was promoted to a management position while Vivian was recruited to work at Children’s Hospital of Orange County in California. The hospital operated a health van, which traveled throughout the community and provided health care services to underserved and uninsured residents. When the health van’s manager resigned, Vivian recruited Silvia for the position. In a reversal of their previous workplace roles, Silvia became Vivian’s supervisor. But as Silvia describes, “It didn’t make any difference to our friendship.”

Silvia was an excellent manager, but at heart she remained an allergy nurse. When the Children’s Hospital started a second van program—a “Breathmobile” providing asthma care for uninsured children—Silvia switched to managing the Breathmobile. She persuaded Vivian to take the reins as health van manager. Today, the two women travel to schools and community clinics in the county, giving presentations to parents, teachers, and community members. Their friendship remains steadfast. As Vivian notes, “We can talk on the phone forever. It seems we always have something to run by each other. Our husbands do not understand how we could have so much to say to each other after working side by side all day.” Silvia adds, “We always joke about being ‘sisters separated at birth.’ We tell everyone that!”

The van programs that Silvia and Vivian manage are very successful and so is their enduring and intimate friendship, which has survived stress, power shifts, personal change, and time. For Silvia and Vivian, as for anyone with a close coworker friendship, the line between work and home life has been blurred. In its place, what has emerged is a union of the personal and the professional that allows these friends to meet their daily work challenges and share in eachother’s private triumphs and troubles. As Vivian describes, “I could not have become the successful manager that I am without Silvia’s guidance and support. We are a team. We can work very well apart from each other, but we always come back together when it comes to big decisions. I have never felt anything but love and respect for Silvia.” Discussing their relationship separately, Silvia offers a similar sentiment: “We love and respect each other and always bounce big decisions [off] each other, knowing that we can trust what the other person says. We help each other and talk about everything without feeling like we are being judged.”

outline

• chapter outline

• 387

• The Nature of Workplace Relationships

• 395

• Peer Relationships

• 399

• Mixed-Status Relationships

• 406

• Challenges to Workplace Relationships

• 413

• Workplace Relationships and Human Happiness