Nurses are not allowed to date patients that they are working with for any reason.
Love and especially young and fast love makes people incredibly irrational which contradicts the main purpose of taking those people in the first place.
Can nurses date patients?
People go into these hospitals to get treated and return to their normal lives in the fastest amount of time reasonable.
The idea of sleeping with the patient that you’re also taking care of is not only high-risk but is something that can also get your license suspended.
Just about any business in the US is very strict on how other people in the company date coworkers or date people that they are working with.
True love is genuine and can come out of absolutely nowhere, but nurses have to be the ones to put their foot down and decide that dating a patient is highly inappropriate.
There is also a massive power dynamic between the nurse and the patient.
The patient is in a state of vulnerability, while the nurse has all of the power, to decide whether they are truly going to help the person in their custody.
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Table of Contents
Can a nurse date a patient after discharge?
In some cases, this is possible to do. The idea of dating a patient that a nurse previously took care of is going to seem suspicious to an employer of any hospital.
It is possible that a genuine attraction rose out of taking care of some in extensive amounts of time.
For the most part, a nurse can get away with dating a patient if they are sure they are never going to take care of them.
When a nurse is dating someone, it can completely through their professionalism out of the window.
Worst of all, the hospital becomes a place where relationship drama gets sorted with expensive technology.
Even if an administrator was comfortable with the press getting knowledge of that, it still doesn’t change that these people are going to irrationally be using expensive technology on people in a love trance when that technology is hard to replace.
It’s not incredibly uncommon for a nurse to date someone that they’ve met in the hospital, but the two people need to establish boundaries for the future of the nurse’s career.
The hospital can’t be a place where the couple is messing around or taking away from the time that needs to be served to patients.
See also: Nurse Pick Up Lines
Can a nurse date a former patient?
If the nurse has fully taken care of the patient, then it could be someone that they can date.
Dating someone that they are currently taking care of in the hospital is bad for the nurse and the hospital.
In many times, dating a patient that they’re taking care of has led to irrational decision making which is bad for that individual.
The nurse needs to be thinking about that patient’s future, and how to get them outside of the hospital in as little time as possible.
If a nurse and a patient are sure that they are never going to see each other professionally, then they should be fine to date each other.
This removes a lot of the power dynamic that is in a hospital could provide for a nurse.
There is also nothing wrong with the future partners of a nurse meeting at their workplace on occasion.
It’s not uncommon at all for couples to meet where one of them is working after they are done with their shift.
See also: Why Do Nurses Work 12-Hour Shifts?
If they aren’t being serviced at the hospital, everything should be alright.
Can a nurse date a patient’s family member?
Technically, there isn’t really all that much wrong with dating a patient’s family member.
If you are in contact with the family, you could potentially ask them if everything is alright if you really want to be sure of everything.
It would be somewhat bad if you and the patient’s family member spent a lot of time getting to know each other in the hospital.
If you’re going to do this, make sure that it’s something that won’t attract attention to the hospital.
Also, make sure the love is real before you really commit to getting into a relationship with that person.
Having a family member in the hospital puts a lot of pressure on that person and they aren’t truly in a rational state of mind.
Regardless of how much they put in front of other people, their sibling’s status as a patient in the hospital weighs on their mind and you should really take that into account.
See also: Can Nurses Treat Family Members?
Some of those people might completely forget about you once their family member is out of the hospital.
Some of them are only with you because they may feel lonely.
On the flip side, their compassion towards you may grow stronger since they aren’t worried about their family being in the hospital.
See also: How Do Nurses Show Compassion?
Conclusion: Can nurses date patients?
Dating a patient that you’re currently taking care of is potentially one of the most controversial things you can do as a nurse.
It puts the entire hospital in jeopardy if it attracts even the slightest bit of media attention.
This could potentially mean that you lose your license to practice being a nurse in the hospital.
See also: How to Renew Nursing License?
If you’re going to date someone outside of the hospital, please make sure that it isn’t something you are currently taking care of.
One of the worst things a business can be accused of is running a secret prostitution ring, which hurts everyone involved.
When it comes to dating people that you have already taken care of, you can probably do it as long as they aren’t in the hospital.
Being in this kind of relationship has brought out some of the happiest relationships that you will ever see in your life.
You owe it to yourself to have that kind of happiness, but make sure that the love is real and doesn’t come from the lust of seeing the patient in a vulnerable position.
Young love has the potential to harm both people involved, so make sure that you take your time while doing this.
Related articles of ours:
- How Often Do Nurses Cheat?
- Do Nurses Relieve Patients?
- What Are Registered Nurses Not Allowed to Do?
- Can Nurses Accept Gifts?
- 7 Ethical Principles in Nursing
- Do Nurses Cry When Patients Die?
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