Do you struggle to keep your home life and professional life distinct as a nurse? Are you more used to saying "yes" than "no" to people? Have you ever observed that, in some way, you frequently bring your job home with you? Perhaps it's time to reevaluate your boundaries if you feel that your personal and professional lives are blending together.
What are professional boundaries and why they are important?
Boundaries can be outlined in many different ways, but they frequently relate to our values, views, and ideas. You can gain by setting a variety of various kinds of boundaries. It's crucial to establish physical boundaries in pandemic situations, especially if you come into contact with COVID-19 patients. Physical limits include personal space and physical contact.
Setting boundaries and sticking to them will help you prioritize your relationships, career, and interests. For example, you might decide to cancel plans with friends in favor of spending the evening alone. You can also place restrictions on how you use your energy, such as telling someone that you are currently unable to listen to their complaints.
Learning To Set Boundaries
Setting boundaries with your coworkers, managers, and supervisors are crucial when it comes to maintaining them. So, below are some guidelines for establishing limits at work.
Evaluate your personal boundaries.
Conducting a boundary assessment can help you get clear on where you need to set boundaries more effectively than simply talking to your supervisor. The first step is to start recognizing the individuals and circumstances that worry you out. Make a note of them. An obvious indication that you may need to reevaluate a boundary or explain it more clearly is if you catch yourself feeling angry, resentful, or guilty.
Manage expectations
Nurses have a contract of employment, a job description, and a set of fundamental expectations before they begin work. They can anticipate receiving this kind of payment in exchange for accomplishing that. If they don't agree with anything stated in those initial documents, they have the option to reject the employment outright or to negotiate. They’ll probably be given additional assignments and projects as time goes on, and they can request workplace modifications.
The baseline changes, which is acceptable as long as the expectations are still defined, reasonable, and accepted by all parties. But they're not very often.
Expectations that are not properly stated, understood or agreed upon can result in a great deal of tension for all parties involved. Because there are frequent consequences when expectations aren't met and nurses sense the threat of those outcomes, this is where expectation management becomes extremely crucial.
Set these parameters as soon as you begin your new assignment.
It is wasteful to think that your coworkers would automatically understand what your boundaries are because everyone has different ones. If you don't tell them to, they won't. By being up and forthright about your boundaries right away, you'll encourage your coworkers to ask questions and prevent any misunderstandings later. For instance, if you want to be clear about how much overtime you'll work, it will be useful for your coworkers to know that upfront so they don't place you in a difficult situation.
Discuss it as soon as you can if someone tries to cross your boundaries.
The boundary—the safety net—you've established for yourself will eventually be breached by someone. Try to confront the interaction or situation as soon as it arises in that situation rather than delaying action until later. The person might not fully understand the extent of your distress if too much time passes. But if you deal with the matter as soon as you can, you can avoid needless workplace conflict and future feelings of overburdening yourself or becoming resentful.
You may, however, be working in an unavoidably poisonous atmosphere if you see that your limits are consistently and forcefully ignored. Then it might be time to consider fresh possibilities.
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