Dual Relationships: Boundaries for Healthcare Professionals (NA2245)
Author(s): Patsy Barnes, RN, BA
Pre-Approved for: ACM, CA BRN, CCAPP, CCM, CDMS, CE Broker Provider, CLCP, COHN/COHN-S, CRCC, CRRN, CVE, CVRP, Delaware BON, FCB, MCBAP-Related, MSCC, NAADAC, RNs
Credit Hours: 4
Course Format
This course is online. All course material is available online and is accessible immediately after purchase from your account homepage. Certificate of Completion is available immediately upon passing the exam.
Course Overview
Historically, a dual relationship was to be avoided at all costs. As healthcare and modern technologies have evolved, dual relationships have become more prevalent.
In this course, we will explore the concept of boundaries in professional healthcare. We will investigate how those boundaries are violated in a dual relationship. It was also presumed that all dual relationships were bad for both the professional and the client, but recent research has shown that there are benefits to some dual relationships. Management of such relationships is now recognized as a reasonable response by healthcare professionals.
The basis of management of a dual relationship relies heavily on an ethical structure of decision-making and the Codes of Conduct for most helping professions. In this course, we will dive deep into the ethical considerations of dual relationships. The Professional Codes of Conduct will be reviewed in this context and case studies will also be presented.
Society is composed of small communities based on common beliefs and practices. These communities pose an increase in the occurrence of dual relationships. We will discuss a variety of communities including rural, military, native, LGBTQ, and recovering communities.
Society is more composed of small communities based on common beliefs and practices and these communities pose an increase in the occurrence of dual relationships. Healthcare professionals must also be alert to the dangers of social media, virtual dual relationships, and ways to manage those situations.
Course Objectives
- Explain boundaries in healthcare and how they are violated in dual relationships.
- Present the types of dual relationships and levels of involvement.
- Compare and contrast the positive and negative aspects of dual relationships.
- Discuss the inevitability of dual relationships in small communities including:
- the rural community
- the military community
- the native community
- the LGBTQ community
- the recovering community, AA and NA
- Explain how dual relationships occur in social media and ways to manage them.
- List some ethical questions to use in managing dual relationships.
- Provide the information in their Code of Conduct as it relates to dual relationships.
Course Outline
- Boundaries, Crossing Boundaries and Violating Boundaries
- Therapeutic Boundaries and Dual Relationships
- Dual Relationships in Rural and Other Small Communities
- Ethics and Dual Relationships
- Social Media and Dual Relationships
- Codes and their Guidance on Boundaries and Dual Relationships
- Cases