Oregon Nursing Edition 13 : Page 9
NURSING ASSISTANT CORNER down the slippery slope of crossing the boundary by the giving the fam-ily member your personal information so that they could make this request. Establish clear, professional boundar-ies about who you connect with, and be cautious in disclosing personal information. Check out https://www.ncsbn.org/ Social_Media.pdf for more informa-tion on this topic. caregiver(s). Nursing assistants can-not accept gifts or money from clients or their family members or friends (Alvare, Fuzy, & and Rymer, 2009; Dugan, 2008 and Oregon Home Care Commission, March 2009). What principles guide the nursing assistant’s response to this situation? ration may make the ill person vulner-able to the attention of a caregiver. No client should feel that they have to give gifts in order to receive care. The role of the nursing assistant is personal care. The nature of the nurs-ing assistant’s job gets them close to the client. It is a position of power and control over an individual and great caution must be taken to not take advantage of the individual during this vulnerable time. Nursing assistants are not to use the client relationship to exploit the client by gaining property or other items of value from the client for either personal gain or sale, beyond the compensation for services. Sick people may be dependent and vul-nerable. When an individual is ill, they may feel upset and useless because that can’t do the normal daily activities that bring them pleasure and self-worth. These feelings tend to increase, the more they have to depend on others to help them. Being admitted to a health care facility separates the individual from the people that give them their sense of love and belonging. This sepa-SCENARIO #2 Another common dilemma for nurs-ing assistants is how to respond when the client or the family of the client wants to give a gift to the nursing assis-tant. Clients and their families are frequently very thankful for the genu-ine, competent care given by nursing assistants. They want to thank the continued on page 10 OHSU School of Nursing Take Your Next Step into Nursing e OHSU School of Nursing o ers a variety of graduate nursing programs—from advanced practice specialties including nurse midwifery, anesthesia, psychiatric mental health, family nurse practitioner, health systems and organizational leadership, to master of nursing education, PhD and DNP programs. With scholarship funding specically allocated for graduate students, taking the next step to advance your nursing education has never been easier. U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks the School of Nursing’s graduate programs in America’s top 10. Become part of the OHSU community of leaders where you will bene t from an environment where healing, teaching and discovery come together. Applications and scholarship funds available now. Oce of Admissions: 503 494-7725 or proginfo@ohsu.edu A Passion for Nursing www.ohsu.edu/son OHSU is an equal opportunity, armative action institution. SENTINEL 9
