An individual is considered to be a nurse’s “patient” for a period of one year following the end of the professional nurse-patient relationship. This means, if a nurse begins a sexual relationship with an individual to whom they provided care to within the last year, the nurse’s conduct would be sexual abuse. 

In the context of sexual abuse, a professional nurse-patient relationship exists if there is an interaction between an individual and a nurse, and the nurse:

• receives payment from an individual for a health care service;
  
• contributes to the health record for the individual;
• recommends a health care service the individual consents to; or
• prescribes the individual a drug for which a prescription is needed.