Boundary violations can lead nurses to sexually abuse patients. By recognizing warning signs in yourself and colleagues, you can stop the behaviour to prevent it from escalating to sexual abuse.

Here are some warning signs you should pay attention to:

• Giving personal contact information to a client, unless it’s required as part of the nursing role
• Spending extra time with one client beyond their therapeutic needs
• Spending off-duty time with a client
• Changing assignments to care for a specific client
• Dressing differently for a particular client
• Frequently thinking about a particular client
• Feeling other members of the team do not understand a specific client
• Feeling defensive when someone questions interactions with a specific client
• Keeping secrets with the client
• A client is only willing to speak to a particular nurse