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Professional Boundaries in a Healthcare Setting

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Professional Boundaries in a Healthcare Setting
Professional boundaries are the defining lines which separate the therapeutic behavior of a registered nurse from any behavior that could reduce the benefit of nursing care to clients, well intentioned or not (as cited in Fronek et al., 2009). Paavillainen & Astedt-Kurki (1997) state that each nurse "ensures that the nurse-client relationship is a therapeutic relationship" and "maintains appropriate boundaries in all interactions with clients at all times" (p. 138). Nurses must maintain their professional boundaries and be aware of events or situations that may threaten them. They should have limitations in their scope of practice. It is staying within their role by refraining from personal involvement with a patient. As nurses, they are limited by their duties and activities as defined by their job scope, so it is very important for them to understand their job description (Gutheil, 2008). The concept of professional boundaries is so important to psychiatric nursing because the health and well being of patients depends upon a collaborative effort between the nurse and the patient (Muskin & Epstein, 2009). It is the nurse’s professional responsibility to understand the dynamics of the therapeutic relationship, to establish the relationship, and to maintain the relationship within therapeutic boundaries. Nurses must understand the differences between a therapeutic relationship and a social or personal relationship (Paavillainen & Astedt-Kurki, 1997). Also, it is significant for all health-care professionals to recognize the differences between boundary crossing and boundary violation.
The difference between a boundary crossing and boundary violation, as stated by Gutheil (2008), is that, “Boundary crossings are considered minor deviations from traditional psychotherapy that neither harm nor exploit the

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