Their eyes met across a crowded room. They knew in an instant they were kindred spirits. The problem? The crowded room is the nurses’ station, and the kindred spirits are coworkers. During the last few years, there has been a lot embarrassing stories circulating out on the Internet about hospital employees who have become romantically entangled with each other. Personally, I’ve never dated a coworker. It just struck me as being kind of incestuous. I always thought dating someone I worked closely with would be like dating my brother. Eeewww!

Workplace romances are nightmares for human resource managers, and they have been around in hospitals since the days of Florence Nightingale. In fact many studies reveal that almost 80 percent of employees are involved in or know someone who is involved in a workplace romance. It’s not surprising when you think about how much time we spend at work. Where else are couples going to meet?

Love around the nurses station creates a problem for everyone, especially for the couple involved in the relationship. I personally find it embarrassing to watch coworkers making goo-goo eyes at each other. Staff members start feeling like intruders when the happy couple is chatting away, engaging in pillow talk at the nurses station. People love to gossip. The rumormongers are in their glory as stories about the couple start circulating throughout the hospital, and no one gets any work done. In fact, according to research, the happy couple’s productivity goes down by 24%, their coworker’s productivity goes down by 11%, and unit morale goes down by 16%.

And then there is the issue of breaking up. That’s always complicated no matter whom you are dating, but it’s especially awkward when you’re breaking up with someone you have to see everyday at work.

He said, “Excuse me, please pass the scalpel.” She said, “My pleasure. Where would you like it? In your back, or through your heart,”

Yeah, things can get messy. Human resource managers also warn that stalking and acts of retaliation can occur when a workplace romance ends badly. Unfortunately, when things get too dysfunctional on the unit, the boss has to fire someone. Who gets canned depends on the situation. If it’s a doctor-nurse relationship, guess what, the nurse gets fired. Rank has its privileges and nurses are more expendable. If a nurse is seeing another nurse, it’s a tossup. Sometimes they both get a pink slip. In the end, someone has to start looking for work somewhere else.

It’s hard having a social life when you work forty hours a week plus mandatory overtime, but finding love in the workplace is not a smart thing to do. I’d like to suggest stopping at Starbucks on your way home from work. Life may be a party, but don’t bring your love life to work. It can really hurt your career.

Have you been in a workplace romance, or have you seen one blossom or fizzle at work? Come tell us about it a Nursing Voices. We’re waiting to hear from you.