Complaints against nurses can be made on several grounds and orders, including removal from the registry of nurses. can be made as a result of these complaints. Boundary violations generally relate to complaints around criminal charges. unsatisfactory professional conduct or professional misconduct or a lack of good character. This article explores the spectrum of boundary violations in the nurse patient relationship by reviewing ’disciplinary"cases from"the' New SouthWaies Nurses and Midwives Tribunai‘and-Prufessional Standards Committees. The complaints spanned .a spectrum .of behaviours. from minor infringements such as inappropriate compliments to intimate touching and sexual intercourse. Furthermore, the majority of respondents were men. although men comprise a minority of the nursing profession. This phenomenon is discussed in terms of gender stereotyping and nursing work. in addition, the possibility that improved supervision may have gone some way to preventing the violations is explored.
Keywords Body work, complaints against nurses. men in nursing, professional boundaries.
Aim
This article presents one aspect of the results of a study undertaken or the New South Wales (N SW) Nurses and Midwives Board (NMB), reviewing the findings of close to 200 disciplinary decisions relating to registered nurses (RNs) and registered midwives (RMs) in NSW from 1999 to 2006 analysed under the grounds for complaint.