Babysitting patient??

racing-mom4, BSN, RN · May 21, 2008

Maybe because I worked last night and stayed awake with little ones today and my mind may be fuzzy here but what are you asking?

You are a school nurse and a parent of one of your students at your school asked you to baby sit?? Boy if I could get the school nurse to babysit I would, what a wonderful person that would be to watch my little ones. I dont see anything wrong wtih it, your not practicting nursing on them, or treating them medically short of the scraped knee and band aide, your feeding them, reading them a story and putting them to bed.

Your allowed to work outside the area of nursing. Babysitting is a job a nurse would be great at --that is if she isnt exhausted!!!

P_RN, ADN, RN · May 21, 2008

I'll have to disagree. You are a Nurse 24/7/365 whether you want to believe it or not.

racing-mom4, BSN, RN · May 21, 2008

I'll have to disagree. You are a Nurse 24/7/365 whether you want to believe it or not.

Yes I understand your always a nurse, but if your acting in the role of babysitter:reading stories-making dinner-tucking into bed. That is the role of babysitter.

I have babysat my friends children and I dont know why I would stop doing this just because I am a nurse. I have also had CNAs as well as other RNs I work with baby sit my own children, and I think of them as a babysitter--who also happens to be CPR certified!!

kels764 · May 22, 2008

I think what my boss has a problem with is the fact that the child I would be babysitting is a "patient" of ours....it's a daycare, basically....and I know I'm a nurse 24/7...I was a nurse before I became a nurse...a nurse is there to care and help people through crisis....this family is struggling and needs my help...and I can't help them because I'm a nurse? what?! to me the argument is ridiculous....I should be able to babysit for a family that needs me...whether she goes where I work or not....

kels764 · May 22, 2008

conflict of interest? maybe?

llg, PhD, RN · May 22, 2008

Unless you were friends with this family outside of your work setting prior to your professional relationship ... it is a definite violation of the boudaries of the professional role. It is common for facilities to forbid the development of such personal relationships between health care providers and their patients.

The American Nurses Association has some educational materials (pamphlets etc) that discuss the topic of what is and what is not appropriate between nurses and their patients, but I don't have a link to offer. Perhaps someone else does.

kels764 · May 22, 2008

okay...thanks

I have a question though...if the parents decided to move the child into a different daycare...would I still not be able to babysit or anything?

racing-mom4, BSN, RN · May 22, 2008

So could a school teacher babysit a child then?? After all they are a teacher 24/7??

kels764 · May 22, 2008

I agree racing_mom ....

I called my stateboard and they said there's no where in the rules that I cannot babysit a child outside of work that is a patient of mine...

as well as...I talked to my supervisor's supervisor and she tried to talk me out of it...but said they could not stop me

racing-mom4, BSN, RN · May 22, 2008

I think what my boss has a problem with is the fact that the child I would be babysitting is a "patient" of ours....it's a daycare, ....

So you work at a daycare that takes care of physically challenged kids? Your boss probably doesnt want you to babysit them because if your doing it they are not bringing the child to that day care during those hours--thus they are not getting paid-you are directly from the family.

Different yet similar scenerio~~My sister worked at a day care center though out college, one of the families loved her so much they hired her as a nanny for the summer and paid her as much as she was getting from the center, of course the center did not want her to do it and tried to talk her out of it.~~They lost my sister and that family for the summer.

My boss can not tell me what I can do off hours, only conflict of interest is if you were an agency nurse assisgned to a hospital and then the hospital hired you directly with out paying the agency. That is a conflict of interest, but baby sitting on your nights off? No, it is not effecting your work.

kels764 · May 22, 2008

it's a M-F 8-4 school ....and I would be babysitting for free...I feel the child needs extra attention and since I do not have kids or anything tying me up on weekends...I would like to rise to the challenge of keeping her some weekends... so they're trying to talk me out of it incase the mom decides she doesn't like me and doesn't want me around her child at work....OR if the child says she got a bruise or injury from ME ...but the thing is, where I work...if a child says you hurt them, you get charged with it anyway....so off hours or not, I would be screwed if a child were to say I hurt them....but I have PLENTY of references before I became a nurse...that would definitely back me up that I would never hurt a child...

see when I came into this job, I thought I would be able to help with the children, help them learn, etc....before I became a nurse, I was tied between nursing and teaching...so I thought this job would be perfect...I could teach, but also do nursing.....well my boss HATES the idea, and doesn't allow me to do ANYTHING but nursing...