Many of the medical dramas on television depict a close-knit group of doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals who are working together and they almost seem like family members. It can be argued that these practitioners demonstrate some of the characteristics of a primary group. One reason for this is that for most health professionals they consider their career a calling, not just a job. Therefore, coworkers can share this common bond with one another on a deeper level and forge strong relationships that can last a lifetime. For example, groups of nurses share the physical and emotional burdens that come with the occupation. Often there are life and death decisions being made during a shift and it can feel like an emotional roller coaster. By bonding together the group of nurses can support one another leading to unbreakable bonds among the nursing staff. This sense of family may even be more pronounced in rural hospitals. The nurses all live in the same community, their children grow up together, and they support each other in times of need outside of work. This unique environment can create a deep sense of feeling like family and treating each other as family. The primary group characteristics are easy to identify in these settings.

* Many shared interests and activities.
* Emotionally close bonds and members spend a lot of time together.
* Concern for other members’ welfare.
* A shared sense of “we.”

When nurses work together side by side for 12-hour shifts and share a unique calling to the profession, it provides the structure for developing a sense of being a member of a family of health professionals.