Facebook nurses and patients

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Should a nurse befriend a former patient when that patient sends a friend request. I have seen both positive and negative outcomes when this happens, what is your opinion?

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

Not unless they know them from outside the nurse patient relationship. It's a boundary issue. Now, I have had patients that I've known from elsewhere (coworkers, neighbors, friends' parents, etc). They were my Facebook friends prior to being my patient. I've never even looked for a patient on Facebook, nor would I accept a friend request from them.

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Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.

I'm not on Facebook. It doesn't seem good to me.

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Me neither. I don't want to talk to my old HS boy friends, let alone patients!

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Should a nurse befriend a former patient when that patient sends a friend request. I have seen both positive and negative outcomes when this happens, what is your opinion?

Homework?

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Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).

A Valid Area of Concern, Annaleemaybey.

My response is Absolutely not! It will jeopardize the Boundaries of the Professional Relationship.

I'm surprised the Mods didn't move your Thread to the Yellow Pages.

To get more Information, you might want to do a Search on the General Discussion area of AN.com or here:

HIPAA and Nursing Challenges

The Best to you, Annaleemaybey!

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Specializes in ICU/CCU (PCCN); Heme/Onc/BMT.

Some sound advice found here. Count me as another nurse who will not accept former patients as FB friends, for the reasons noted in previous posts.

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Specializes in Public Health, TB.

Absolutely not, as per previous posters. Nothing good can come of it.

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.

I'm surprised the Mods didn't move your Thread to the Yellow Pages.

We were alerted to relocate via report. ;)

Thread moved to HIPAA forum.

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Specializes in Peds/Neo CCT,Flight, ER, Hem/Onc.

The only patient I am Facebook friends with belongs to the same sailing club as I do and I occasionally crew for him. I knew him as a patient first but our club is small so it would be impossible to have no contact with him. I continued to care for him after we became friends but in a limited way ( I accessed his port and drew his labs). I NEVER discuss his illness outside of the clinical setting and nobody knows I took care of him. We are quite good friends now but I am excruciatingly careful to keep our clinical and social relationships separate which isn't difficult because he's only seen in clinic 2 times a year and our friendship is almost entirely based on our mutual activities at the club. I have been friend-requested by many other patients but have ignored them all (even the folks from my church). In general I think it's a no-brainier to avoid it.

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No, and nor should you accept request to baby sit your patients after discharge, sign on to be their home health nurse through another agency, go out to dinner with them, etc. And if you happen to find a former patient on facebook or another website, and their information is public, do not "like" it!

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Specializes in Hospice.

I did friend the son of a former patient (but not until I left the agency). He would occasionally tell me how she was doing, and how appreciative he was of the whole Hospice experience.

He didn't go into specifics about her care, and I never asked. None of my business.

Frankly, most of our conversations revolve around his dog-yes, I'm that person who goes to a party and winds up playing with the dog lol.

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