Asserting professional boundaries with Dr Wendy McIntosh

Nurse & Midwife Support Podcast

Understanding professional boundaries is vital for nurses and midwives to practise safely and adhere to our registration requirements and protect ourselves and the public from harm. Unfortunately, asserting professional boundaries isn’t always easy. At Nurse & Midwife Support we often hear from nurses and midwives that navigating professional boundaries can be complex. We support nurses and midwives impacted by boundary transgressions or with questions about boundary management. We know that managing professional boundaries may not always be black and white and we are here to support you. The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) also recognise that managing professional boundaries can sometimes be difficult, particularly identifying and differentiating the boundaries between professional relationships and personal relationships. That’s why they provide guidance on professional boundaries in the respective Code of conduct that aim to protect the community by helping to prevent distress, confusion, harm, or abuse of people being cared for by nurses and midwives. But professional boundaries aren’t just important for protecting the people we care for — they’re vital for protecting clinicians too. Understanding professional boundaries is important for your professional wellbeing. That’s why we asked Dr Wendy McIntosh to join us on the Your Health Matters podcast to provide you with the facts, information, resources, and support you need to confidently assert your own boundaries. Wendy has spent many years studying professional boundaries. She has 30 years’ experience as a registered nurse in clinical, education and research settings, including twenty-five years in mental health. She takes a special interest in professional supervision, professional boundaries, professional identity, links between childhood trauma and mental illness and workplace bullying. We are so grateful that Wendy has joined us to explain what she has learned about professional boundaries and how they will support your professional health and wellbeing. That’s enough now Wendy has also written a blog for us on the topic: “That’s enough now”— professional boundaries fortify self-care. She writes: “That's enough now” is a phrase I developed while supporting professionals to identify and address factors that led to their boundary transgressions. “That's enough taking work home”, “that's enough workplace bullying”, “that's enough working long hours”, “that's enough unpaid overtime”. That's enough now. Wendy believes “That's enough now” is a crucial phrase to help nurses and midwives create and reinforce boundaries, and that we should start practicing it at the undergraduate level. Check out the blog to learn more about how you can practice saying “That’s enough now.” Talk to us about it Professional boundaries matter! If you need help figuring out how to build and maintain your boundaries, we’re here to chat about it. Give us a call on 1800 667 877. https://www.nmsupport.org.au/news/podcast-asserting-professional-boundaries-dr-wendy-mcintosh