Crossing the line of professionalism

Nurses General Nursing

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Is there anything wrong with becoming personally involved with a client? How do you as a nurse maintain professional relationships with your patients? What are some warning signs that the professional relationship is becoming unprofessional?

Originally posted by Erinkate2959

Obviously some people have forgotten what it is like to be a student. I think attitudes like these are what drive students away in herds from choosing nursing as a profession.

WARNING: LONG WINDED POST: WARNING

I can't believe anybody here has forgotten what nursing school was like. Many here are STILL students going on to advanced degrees. We also haven't forgotten that doing one's OWN WORK and RESEARCH yields the most benefit vs simply printing out someone else's words for school credit.

I would suggest students leave in 'herds' as you say because of dishonest recruitment tactics such as the silly J & J commercials that paint unrealistically rosy pictures for students. When students get a load of what nursing is REALLY like they leave. I can't blame them. That, or they leave within the first year of practice for the same reasons. Nursing is much more than the easy rosy job full of wonderful reward that is portrayed. It is tough work; not for the faint of heart. Those who don't recognize this won't make it long.

Nurses leave the facility setting (this is why there is a 'shortage')because we are choosing to work elsewhere...many of us keep our licenses but are NOT working for facilities...and it is mainly because of WORKING CONDITIONS, not our coworkers, not our teachers, not our mentors, not our students...it is nobody in particular's fault (except maybe the CEO... who doesn't care...and just recruits more new grads and foreign nurses as a bandaid solution.)

Sorry so long...needed to present a bit of perspective here to a nursing student from a 25 year nurse. I suspect I'll be accused of young eating by pointing these things out.

:roll

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

Mattsmom, if THAT is young-eating, pass the grey poupon. It needed to be said. Thanks for that.

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I just make it known that I don't take care of any of my family, close neighbors or people that I go to church with.

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Originally posted by SmilingBluEyes

Mattsmom, if THAT is young-eating, pass the grey poupon. It needed to be said. Thanks for that.

:kiss

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I live in a small town and the line is always crossed; there isn't a way to avaoid it. These persons are my teachers , neighbors and friends.

It was quite a concern for me last semester as I was just starting and was afraid of the confidentaillity issues.

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originally posted by smilingblueyes

ageless, if you bothered to read the posts you would know the question was not the problem. but i digress.......this thread should be so over by now, huh?

i did bother to read the post and the question evoked the heated debate ....sigh.... :rolleyes:

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I have never posted to this BB before, but I felt like I had to in this case. I am a new nurse, out 14 months now, but I had a life before nursing including the military and four children. I feel I need to clarify that before I post my response.

I can understand how some people may feel offended and used by a student posting a question for a class assignment without divulging that fact, but think about this:

1. The assignment itself may have had restraints that suggested or even required that the question be posed exactly the way it was.

2. Putting your research hats on - this student was given real world answers to a question from real world nurses - there was no possibility of getting answers other than real honest advise that she could expect to get if she were already out of school. It seems like a pretty good study design. I realize that no one signed consents to participate, but this forum could be used by anyone to gain the opinion of nurses on a variety of subjects. That is the reality of participating online.

3. As nurses we do not practice in isolation. We practice indepently but have our coworkers and other nurses in forums such as this to bounce questions and ideas off of. This assignment provided an introduction to another way to tap into a resourse that we as professional nurses use everyday - each other.

4. I hate the phrase 'eating our young' but I would be fibbing if I said I don't see it all the time - even here. If you feel you are being used by students then help them find a more appropriate way to get the help they need. Don't gripe to others and shut the student down, tell them where to start and then to come back to you with specific information before you help them. Have you ever been at a point where you didn't even know enough to know what kinds of questions to ask - this could be a situation for the students asking for help. I could go on and on.

Bottom line, if you are in a situation in which you are working with students, find a way to foster them without doing their work for them or shutting them out. Help them develop critical thinking skills, quiz them about medications and procedures and even A&P while you are working with them. Teach them that it is OK to ask questions and that they may not be given the answers, but that you will help them learn where to look for answers to their own questions.

If I were a student, I'd be terrified to post anything in a forum like this again.

That's my two cents. I may be too scared to post another message myself - we'll see.:chair:

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

Welcome to the forum, Heather. You are the 2nd OB nurse who is named Heather here, that I know of. I will not argue w/you or change my stance on the issue. I felt the OP was wrong in how this was done, but am not going to go into it all over again. I just wish to welcome you to the forums, where asking questions in and of itself, is never wrong, as you will find out.

BTW where in WI are you? My dh is from Eau Claire, and that is where I delivered our first son. I, too, am ex-military w/a long work history before entry into nursing 6 years ago, and I, too, practice in OB. Gives us alot in common, doesn't it?

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Ok, ladies, a different scenario, but same subject......

1) I am a student, I graduate Tuesday (1Aug06)

2) This is for class

3) I have looked, but can't seem to find info regarding my particular situation. Maybe I am not looking in the right places??

Opinions and/or suggestions would be very welcome

My situation.....

My daughter had an emergency C-section at the hospital where I was doing clinicals. They transported her son to a bigger facility about 30 miles away. They did not transport her.

Now here's the deal, I am on the OB floor for clinicals, I stop in to check on my daughter (NOT my pt.). She is complaining because she can't get any thing to eat. She can't leave to go be with her son until things return to a semblance of normal. I explain to her (unfortunatley) that she has to have bowel sounds return 1st. She is my kid, and she tells me her stomach is chewing on her backbone and can I PLEAASE listen?. I tell her I will, but if I hear anything I will have to tell HER nurse and she will have to come listen. I listened, heard bowel sounds, and told her nurse.

Now because I did this, I was accused of "unprofessionalism" and have to write a paper on 'How Professionalism can Impact my Practice'.

Can anyone tell me either what to look for or where to find something that relates to this situation??

I think maybe I would have been better off not trying to explain the whys and wherefores to my daughter, but that is probably a little unrealistic to expect from me. My grandson was 3.5 lbs White, male, & 11 weeks early. She was threatning to leave AMA in order to go be with him. He was born the day before this took place. Forgive me for wanting to pacify my daughter and keep HER in the hospital as long as I could.

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If you were visiting while at clinicals, you are on professional time and must defer to her health care team. (Believe me, my inner Mama Bear would take some 'rassling to subdue in this situation, too!) If you were visiting off-hours as mom, grandma, and not in uniform, you would have every right to advocate for your daughter. I would probably start off with ANA's Code of Ethics for Nurses and then search your library's online professional journals. I wouldn't make it about this situation, but how nurses cope with maintaining professionalism in general. Good luck!

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AHA! Thank-You!!!

I typed in 'ANA code of ethics' and got all kinds of stuff ! Thanks a million!

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BTW:

I was on duty, but had permission to check on her as we only had 1 pt. to care for. (low census).

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