Periodically one reads of nurses marrying former patients, such as physicist Steve Hawking's recent marriage to his nurse of many years. As regards psychiatric or mental health nursing , where there is a psychotherapeutic relationship, the nurse can expect to be held to a standard similar to that of other mental health professionals. For example, the Ontario College of Nursing has set a standard wherein sexual contact with a former patient was prohibited for a year after a psychotherapeutic relationship terminated, and then only if in the nurse's judgment the relationship would not have a negative effect on the patient's well-being. With nursing care which does not involve psychotherapy, or counseling concerning emotional difficulties, it is likely that the closest parallel is the stance taken by the American Medical Assn. Other Health Professions Chiropractors, Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, Massage Therapists and others who do services ancillary to mental health care or provide psychotherapy-like services in some settings generally have no standards governing the former patient, although in civil cases they may be held to a general standard for therapists when they are acting as therapists.
Ethics codes for dentists and many other health professions are silent on the issue.
Pastoral Counselors The Amer. In this field there is no one generally accepted national code of ethics. In states like Minnesota which have a certification process or licensure, those codes apply. The Counselor Code of Ethics With Standards of the Institute for Chemical Dependency Professionals of Minnesota forbids sexual contact for two years after the termination of counseling. So does the Code of Ethics of the Minnesota Chemical Dependency Association, which also forbids creating any client dependency beyond that which is essential to accomplish the goals of treatment.