nursingforsocialjustice

Being a nurse is not being a friend. There are important differences between social relationships and the professional relationship between a nurse and the person being cared for. We know personal information often to people  in very vulnerable positions. There is inherently a power differential because of this.

There are some things that we definitely need to be aware of when we are providing care to anyone. For example, if there is a person/client/patient who is our ‘favourite’ I think we need to ask ourselves why, and then reflect on if this is impacting care in some way, whether that translates into giving that person extra attention or other actions that may be boundary crossing. Similarly, if there is someone who is really irritating that you just don’t like, then the question of if those feelings impact care also need to be reflected on. For example, is that person getting less attention, or is that person being responded to in a condescending or cold manner? Treating people with n our care differently because of our personal opinions of them is not ethical practice. The level of care being delivered should not depend on how likeable a person is, nor should to depend on how well we get al no with someone or even how nice or not nice a person is. The level of care we provide should not depend on how much a persons values align with our own, if they share our religious or political beliefs as much as their skin colour, age or gender should not impact care. And I think that if it does and if we cannot get past that then actions need to be taken to remediate this because everyone should be entitled to good health care.

Peace,
Michelle D