Erica Przybylski, BSN, RN, CPN and Rebecca Lemons, MSN, RN, CPHON, BMTCN are nurses that work in the pediatric hematology oncology clinic and have worked in this specialty practice area for two decades and had noticed the presence of blurred lines in professional boundaries throughout their careers in multiple locations. They conducted a cross-sectional study by distributing a survey to understand pediatric hematology oncology nurses’ opinions, thoughts and available resources regarding professional boundaries in their work settings. Through the survey, the goal was to understand the thoughts, feelings and experiences of nurses within the discipline and identify where improvements can be made to decrease burnout and increase retention.

They surveyed 93 RNs working in pediatric hematology oncology. The average years of experience as a nurse was 19.25 years, with experience ranging from 5 years to 43 years. They found that:

• 67.7% of respondents reported that they did have professional boundaries in place at their institution
• 79.6% of respondents reported feeling uncomfortable as a witness to an over-involved relationship between a nurse and patient/family
• 82.8% of respondents reported that over involved relationships between the nurses and the patient/family can be detrimental to patient care

Many themes were identified in identifying over involved relationships between patients and nurses such as sharing personal cell phone numbers with patients, connecting on social media, meeting patients outside of work, babysitting patients/siblings, and nurses going to patients houses.

Additionally, 69.9% of respondents reported that they have resources in their workplace for burnout/stress, yet this issue continues to persist. The relationship and culture of over-involved relationships between nurses and patients often leads to burnout of nurses and decreases staff retention.

Rebecca and Erica presented their findings and recommended best practices at an Oakland Professional Governance Meeting, Nurse Quality Forum, a podium presentation the Kaiser Permanente Research and Innovative Academy’s annual conference and poster at the 2024 Association of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nurses conference in Salt Lake City, UT.