Facebook groups and professional boundaries

[aerorunner80, ADN, BSN, MSN, APRN]

I am very active in some local Facebook groups. I go to meetups regularly and participate in online discussions.

It's inevitable that the parents of a patient will end up in one of the groups I'm active in (they are parenting type groups).

My question is, how do you keep professional boundaries if the parents recognize you while the child(ren) are still on inpatient?

What I do right now is not respond in any way to the posts they make online in hopes that they won't realize I'm also part of the group.

I'm not quite sure what I will do if they realize we are in the same groups and bring it up while I'm at work. My plan right now is to tell them that while they are inpatient (or their children) I will not friend them or participate in any online discussions with them. Once they are discharged I will participate in their posts but will not mention anything medical or offer any advice in that way since they know I am a nurse and I need to protect myself, my family, and my workplace.

I do not list my occupation, specialty, or place of employment on my page for this reason.

Is there anything else I can or should do?

[Kitiger, RN]

You're thinking this through. Good.

I suggest that you not friend them at all, as you never know when they- or their child - will again be an inpatient. You can still read and interact in the group.

As far as advice, the most I would do here would be to point them to websites that you know to be accurate.

Are you interested in these groups because you can learn, or do you have someone in your life who is in a similar situation?