patient nurse boundaries

[hil78]

I am a nursing student about too graduate in May. I have to post a question on a discussion forum and was hoping you would help. Iu have thought about this issue several times, can anyone help?

Where do you draw the line between a nurse/patient relationship?

[racing-mom4, BSN, RN]

I would think a general rule of thumb is not to exchange phone numbers. Hugs are fine if the situation is appropiate ex: being scared, sad or good news and if the patient is a "huggy" type of person to start with. I have had plenty of patients hug me when they leave. I did became close with a woman about my age who was in with breast cancer, she had young children about my age and we had alot in common to talk about, she couldnt sleep and I was working 3rd shift. She was a patient for about 4 days. Later in the month, I saw her at the grocery, and we hugged and chatted, then the next month I saw her at a kids school function and we chatted some more, eventually we became friends. Even though the friendship technically began in the hosp setting the nurse/patient role totally ended when she left the hospital and the friendship began later.