Is this crossing boundaries?

[SNurse15]

I'm a student nurse and i've been caring for a patient with a terminal diagnosis, she only has a few weeks left. I've become very fond of her and she has been so thankful for everything i have done for her and always wants to know what time I'm her nurse till. I promised I would say goodbye before I left, a lot of stuff happened on the afternoon shift with other patients, i then tried to see her but she was with someone else so i meant to go back later but with everything that was happening it slipped my mind. Now I feel really awful especially as she is being transferred to another facility tomorrow. Would it be really bad if I went to the other facility to say goodbye? I don't wan't people to think that i'm being over involved.

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

Well I voted yes, but it's a very qualified yes. Only if certain conditions are met. You need to clear this with your nursing program, it is NOT worth the possibility of being expelled to go say goodbye to a former patient. If it is cleared by your program then you need to go on your own time, in street clothes and make your goodbye brief. Limit the contact to expressing that you enjoyed caring for her and were sorry to missed saying goodbye before she left the hospital.

[dream'n, BSN, RN]

Thank you for all of your comments. I just wanted to clear a few things up. I didn't assume she was scared and alone, she did actually tell me she was both of these things several times. On the topic of who's benefit is it for, I have already had a good think about this and I definitely wouldn't be doing it for my benefit (as thats a big no). I feel guilty about not keeping my promise as she asked me to stay with her all shift, so I would only want to go and say goodbye if it was for her benefit. Yes i feel really bad about breaking my promise, and it wasn't a case of not wanting to stay late (as i would of done this if possible) and was nothing to do with time management as I was called away by the charge nurse in an emergency which I had no say over. After this I was called away by the colleague who was taking me home, and this is how it slipped my mind that I was meant to go back.

I am grateful for the responses, I really am, but I kind of feel like this situation is making me out to be an awful nurse

You are being ridiculously hard on yourself. If forgetting to say goodbye to a patient makes you an awful nurse, how on Earth are you going to handle a REAL mistake. Maintaining professional boundaries is a GOOD nurse attribute. You're human and you gave the patient all the support and care you could. It wasn't fair for the patient to ask you to stay with her all shift, and I'm sure you'll disagree, but sounds perhaps somewhat manipulative on her part. You will care for many lonely, hurt souls during your nursing career and you'll learn to give them your best while taking care of them, but then you will have to let it go.

Going to see this patient at her new facility is crossing boundaries. As a nurse you must maintain these limits even if you don't like them. This problem is yours, you are growing as a nursing student and will need figure out how you personally move on in these type of situations.