Sharing the Same Reality, Healthy Relations Between Colleagues at Work: A Meta-Synthesis

INTRODUCTION: Good relations are important at work, leading to well-being among coworkers. Since the latest research in nursing is mostly about bullying, and lateral violence, it was important to study what healthy relations mean. OBJECTIVES: The aim was to identify and synthesize qualitative studies that describe healthy relations, creating health and well-being between colleagues at work. METHODS: A meta-synthesis approach, inspired by Sherwood's steps of analysis, was chosen for this study. Ten articles from three continents, comprising 230 participants, were included. RESULTS: Two themes were identified as follows: (a) creating a mutual bond on a personal level and a permissive atmosphere through the human warmth; and (b) sharing togetherness in a greater whole, offering unconditional help and devoting themselves to taking care of each other. An overarching metaphor implicating the home/homeness was abstracted from the two themes: “Healthy relations between colleagues at work constitute the community as a common world, containing feelings of being at home, implying acting in an expression of the ethos and dignity, a culture created that makes the ideal form of healthy relations visible.” CONCLUSION: Nurses find their meaning when they work in a permissive environment, and when they are allowed to be themselves. Such meaning can be found through their engagement with one another, by offering each other unconditional help. Good relationships lead to a place they call their home, where there is trust and friendship.