Professional boundaries are the limits of the nurse-client relationship that separate the nurse's therapeutic behavior from any behavior which, well intentioned or not, could lessen the benefit of care to patients, clients, families and communities. Registered nurses must establish and maintain therapeutic relationships with clients to provide safe, competent and ethical nursing care. Boundaries give each person a sense of legitimate control in a therapeutic relationship. Both the client and nurse are respected when professional boundaries are maintained. The client's dignity, autonomy and privacy are safeguarded, and the nurse is recognized as a professional with certain obligations and rights.
Boundaries are unique to each person and to each nurse-client relationship.
What one person experiences as acceptable behavior may be considered by others to be a boundary violation. Nurses cannot presume to know a client's boundaries. Nurses may decide to cross the established limits of the nurse-client relationship for a therapeutic purpose. These crossings are brief and within the bounds of the law and sound professional judgment. Professional boundary violations are any actions by a nurse that use the relationship with the client to meet a personal need of the nurse at the expense of the client.