There might be a plethora of inconvenient situations in a setting that result from various personal ethical considerations. A patient may be involved in an issue that does not stay in line with the individual state of mind of a healthcare provider. The latter is to demonstrate a significant extent of professionalism in such a case so that the related problem could be resolved appropriately. It seems clear that the described aspect is crucial for the whole healthcare system. Below, the momentousness of proper patient-caregiver relationships will be discussed.
Patients visit healthcare establishments to, first of all, solve their health-related problems. They expect the provision of high-quality services, as well as a great degree of professionalism. However, such visits are always founded on interpersonal relations, given the constant contact with physicians, nurses, and other professionals. These professionals inevitably possess a personal attitude – that may not be approving – to both a patient and their issue. Here, it should be emphasized that a healthcare provider’s competency in this regard is determined by the extent to which the mentioned attitude is concealed. Clients do not have to face any rebuke or condemnation coming from healthcare employees. All they have to feel is support and opportunities for resolving their problem. Thus, caregivers are to primarily concentrate on patients’ needs, safety, and health.
Within the scope of the theme, the concept of professional boundaries seems to be essential. These are “the physical and emotional limits that protect the patient’s vulnerability and protect staff of becoming over involved” (Belmont University, 2017, p. 1). These boundaries serve as an important foundation for healthy relations between healthcare givers and clients. The violation of them includes the following, “excessive self-disclosure, deliberate socialization outside the professional environment, keeping secrets for a patient, breaching confidentiality,” as well as “abuse, sexual relationships, exploitative business relationships” (Belmont University, 2017, p. 2). This list is to be taken into account by any caregiver as these actions harm the reliability of the healthcare system overall.
It should be stressed that such violations lead to a number of unacceptable outcomes. The key point here is that a patient comes to a healthcare establishment when they have physical and emotional distress. In case professional boundaries are violated, either clients lose their trust in professionals, or these professionals start being prejudiced or over-involved, which results in ambiguous relations that hinder an appropriate treatment. Patients may even refuse healthcare services, which will lead to a disease’s severity increase.
In order to avoid such problems, a healthcare provider should maintain the mentioned professional boundaries. This maintenance ranges from evading caring for close friends and relatives to not-sharing personal or financial information with a client (Belmont University, 2017). It is important to draw a clear line between the image of a person as a patient and as an individual that has both virtues and flaws. This will contribute to the necessary degree of impartiality that is a basis for professional caregiving.
To conclude, the issue of appropriate patient-caregiver relations was discussed. It was emphasized that the foundation for an acceptable approach in this vein is the maintenance of professional boundaries. Violation of the latter results in adverse patient outcomes, given the related occurring obstacles to the treatment process. The explored theme – its expedient implementation, more precisely – might be perceived as the main prerequisite to high-quality healthcare services.
Reference
Belmont University. (2017). Professional boundaries n mental health care. Web.