Setting the boundaries Professional boundaries outline the safest area of behavior for nurses when working with patients. These boundaries control the power differential, allow for a safe connection with patients based on their needs, and provide space between the nurses' power and patients' vulnerability. Nurses must establish and maintain professional boundaries. Through consistency, nurses build trust and enhance credibility. Crossing the line When nurses cross or change professional boundaries, the therapeutic relationship becomes ambiguous.
Ambiguity threatens patients' safety.
Boundary crossings are brief excursions over the line with a return to the established limits of the professional relationship. Boundary crossings may be inadvertent or thoughtless, or intended as kindness or courtesy. They also can be trivial. In certain circumstances, a nurse may intentionally cross over to meet a special therapeutic need. Crossing professional boundaries usually has no harmful effects and may enhance the therapeutic relationship.