How Nurses Can Deal With Flirty Patients and Co-Workers

Inappropriate behavior from patients or coworkers gets in the way of your work, and left alone it can put your safety at risk. Here is how to shut it down.

Stay professional

The most efficient boundary is a serious, work-only stance. Make clear you will not entertain flirtation and that the interaction is strictly professional. Just do not mistake every friendly gesture for flirting. Not everyone being warm is hitting on you.

Name it directly

With a flirty patient, be plain: you do not date patients, his behavior is making you uncomfortable, and if it continues you will hand his care to another nurse. With a coworker, confront how it is affecting your work and make clear you will report him to management if it does not stop.

Ignoring it is easier, but silence only tells the person to keep going. Say how you feel, and if it starts getting out of hand, go to management.

Do not be alone with the patient

If a patient is clearly hitting on you, do not assess him alone. Bring a relative or a coworker, ideally someone the same sex as the patient, to the assessment or procedure. For anything non invasive, leave the door slightly open.

Ask to be reassigned

If a coworker crosses the line, ask your supervisor to move one of you to a different area. You can also swap cases with a colleague when a patient turns aggressive or unacceptable.

One nurse manager saw why it matters: "A patient kept asking for one particular nurse every visit. We thought he just liked how she treated him. Then she came to me and asked to refuse him. He was coming in to invite her out and get her number."

Take control

If a joke is not funny or a comment is offensive, do not laugh. If a patient or coworker starts in on intimate personal stories, change the subject or steer it back to work. Humor can help too. Point out the flirting lightly, make clear you find it unattractive, and a bruised ego usually retreats.