MODULE: PP0613 PROFESSIONAL BOUNDARIES

BOUNDARIES BETWEEN NURSES AND PATIENT.

As health care professionals, nurses strive to inspire confidence in their patients and their families, treat all patients and other health care providers professionally, and promote patients independence. Patients can expect a nurse to act in their best interests and to respect their dignity. This means that a nurse abstains from obtaining personal gain at the patient’s expense and refrains from inappropriate involvement in the patient’s personal relationships.

"Boundaries are mutually understood, unspoken physical and emotional limits of the relationship between the patient and the nurse." (Farber, 1997)

When these limits are altered, what is allowed in the relationship becomes ambiguous and possibly unethical. The health and well being of patients depends upon a collaborative effort between the nurse and the patient. Patients are extremely vulnerable to boundary violations because they trust us as their health care providers. They come to us in a time of need, presenting with physical, and often emotional, distress. Some patients demand continuous attention but are unaware of their insatiable neediness. (Muskin and Epstein, 2009)

A nurse enters a therapeutic relationship with skills and knowledge that include a great deal of personal information about the individual in their care; and the authority

to provide the care required by the individual. The community trusts that nurses will act in the best interest of those in their care and that the nurse will base that care on an assessment of the individual’s specific needs. The power imbalance present in a professional relationship places the recipients of care in a position of vulnerability and of potential exposure to exploitation or abuse if that trust is not respected. Nurses have a responsibility to ensure that a