As a person who is working in the health care field, I have heard the following phrase several times.  "You are not here to be their friend, you are here to help them."  It is something I have to remind myself of often.  Something I also question on an ethical and moral level.

As anyone who has taken care of others can relate to, it is difficult to care for someone on a daily basis and not become connected to them on some level.  Now where I want to go with this is when a friendship is formed between a client and a caregiver.  A situation I find myself in quite often.

I work in a facility where the clients range from young to elderly.  Some suffering from depression, bi-polar disorders, brain injuries, schizophrenia, mental retardation, and the elderly.  A sort of fruit basket upset if you will.  No pun intended.

Being young in age, I often connect with the younger clients that come through the facility.  Or to put it in their words, they feel they can talk with me, as I can relate and I don't judge them.  They feel comfortable talking with me on a personal level, as one person to another. Not a staff member to a client.  This is where the line starts to get blurred.  As friendships are built the ethical lines of being a staff are pushed.  It becomes more difficult to remain professional and objective when needed to be.  I know I must remain professional and it is in their best interest, but I feel friendships are very important in any one's health.  Despite the fact that it is continually pounded into my head that we are not here to be any ones friend.  Just because these people are here for help doesn't mean they should be deprived of friendships, and who are we to turn away those who so need what a friend is capable of giving.  In a setting where the possibilities of friends are limited, why would one be turned away because it was ethically wrong. The ability to reach out to others when institutionalized is limited, and often the ones who need someone the most will not make an effort to go outside their comfort zone to find such a person. Anyone who has had at least one good friend can relate when I say, positive friendships are beneficial to everyone.

So where should the line be drawn?