Watch your step: nursing and professional boundaries.

Nursing boundaries, first addressed by Florence Nightingale, are referred to in the “Nightingale Pledge” used in pinning ceremonies throughout our country. Passages such as ”I will abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous...maintain and elevate the standard of my profession...will hold in confidence matters committed to my keeping...in the practice of my calling...and devote myself to the welfare of those committed to my care” all refer to standards or boundaries relating to our duties and responsibilities as nurses. 1