Medical Council · NMBI · Dental Council · Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland · CORU · Complaint or fitness to practise inquiry
Professional Boundaries Course facing a complaint to your regulator, a fitness to practise inquiry or an allegation of a boundary breach
A complaint that a professional relationship became personal?
- Boundaries — a boundaries breach with a patient or a colleague: a relationship that went beyond a professional one
- Dual relationships — a friendship or a second role, such as working for a supplier, alongside the professional relationship
- Gifts — expensive or repeated gifts or favours accepted from a patient or their family
- Emotional — over-involvement, late-night calls, a patient who came to depend on you
- Sexual — an intimate relationship with a patient, or a professional relationship used for intimacy
- Financial — costly treatment recommended without the cheaper options explained
- Digital — a friend request accepted, private messages, a personal phone number given out
- Any other concern — about professional distance with a patient, a service user or a colleague
Facing a complaint or a fitness to practise inquiry about a professional boundary — before the Medical Council, NMBI, the Dental Council, the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland or CORU?
This course is for a healthcare professional facing a complaint or a fitness to practise inquiry about a professional boundary. This course helps you remediate — and show the remediation, with a dated certificate for your written response, your reflection, an undertaking or an inquiry.
| Courses | Price per course | You save |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | €100 | No saving |
| 2 | €88 | €25 |
| 3 | €83 | €50 |
| 5 | €80 | €100 |
| 10 | €70 | €300 |
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Immediate access · certificate on completion · twelve months' access
- 2 CPD hours
- Self-paced
- Written for Ireland
- CPD certificate
- From €70 a course (Bulk Buy of 10)
Dr Shehzad IqbalFounder, course author and facilitatorMBBS, MRCS, MRCGP
Dr Mo MirzaCourse facilitatorMedically trained, UCL London
Ludmila UpenieceBusiness development and supportPsychology, UEL London
At a glance
- Who it is for
- Any healthcare professional in Ireland facing a complaint, an employer process or a fitness to practise inquiry about an emotional, sexual, financial or digital boundary, a dual relationship or gifts, with a patient, a service user or a colleague
- Regulator covered
- Applies to practitioners registered with the Medical Council, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI), the Dental Council, the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI) or CORU
- Length
- 11 sections, 60 lessons, 2 CPD hours
- Format
- Self-paced, online, immediate access, twelve months from purchase
- Certificate
- Certificate issued by Healthcare Ethics Courses on completion, dated, with the course title and 2 CPD hours
- Price
- €100 · from €70 a course (Bulk Buy of 10)
Certificate issued by Healthcare Ethics CoursesRemediation courses for regulatory processes.
The certificate you will receive
How healthcare professionals use it
- With a written response to your regulator or its preliminary committee, alongside a reflection
- When an undertaking or a consent is discussed, or in your evidence to an inquiry committee
- As a dated record of remediation for the regulator when sanction is considered
Who this course is for
Facing an allegation of a boundary breach
A patient, a family, a colleague or your employer has said a professional relationship became personal. Section 3 covers the four types of breach — emotional, sexual, financial and digital — and Section 7 how breaches are weighed by severity.
Facing a complaint to your regulator
The Medical Council, NMBI, the Dental Council, the PSI or CORU has written to tell you of a complaint. Your first written reply is where your understanding of the boundary is read first. Section 8 sets out what a response should include.
Told the relationship became too close
Personal phone calls, private messages, shared personal struggles, a patient who came to depend on you. Section 5 covers the early warning signs of boundary drift — over-familiarity, secretive communication, gifts, physical contact, emotional dependence — and how to prevent it.
Facing a question about gifts or money
Expensive or repeated gifts accepted, or costly treatment recommended without the alternatives. Sections 2 and 3 cover financial boundaries, and Section 8 compares weak and strong responses to gift acceptance and to a financial conflict of interest.
Facing an allegation of professional misconduct
An emotional, sexual, financial or digital boundary can each be the subject of an allegation of professional misconduct. Section 4 applies boundaries to each profession, with an example for each, and Section 8 compares weak and strong responses to boundary complaints in nursing, medicine, pharmacy, dentistry and the CORU professions.
Facing a fitness to practise inquiry
The complaint has gone to a Fitness to Practise Committee, a Professional Conduct Committee or a Health Committee. Remediation completed before the hearing, dated and documented, is evidence you can put before the committee and the regulator.
The concerns this course speaks to
Emotional over-involvement
Sharing personal struggles with a patient, late-night calls for reassurance, a patient treated as a friend. Sections 2 and 3 cover emotional involvement and over-identification, and Section 6 follows a social worker who let a vulnerable client phone late at night.
Intimate and sexual relationships
Any sexual or intimate relationship with a current patient, or a professional relationship used for intimacy. Sections 2 and 3 cover sexual breaches, which the course places among breaches incompatible with practice (Section 7).
Gifts, money and financial exploitation
Expensive or repeated gifts, overcharging, costly treatment where a simpler option would do. Sections 2 and 3 cover financial exploitation and hidden conflicts of interest, and Section 6 a nurse offered expensive jewellery by a grateful patient.
Online and digital contact
A friend request accepted, a personal mobile number shared, advice given on a personal messaging app. Section 9 covers social media, telehealth and virtual consultations, messaging and email, and data protection in digital communication.
Professional boundaries with a patient or a colleague
The course concentrates on patients and service users: professional distance and objectivity (Section 2) and dual relationships (Sections 5 and 10). For colleagues, it covers senior staff modelling safe boundaries for junior colleagues (Section 10). For hierarchy, bullying and conflicts of interest between colleagues, see Ethical Boundaries with Patients and Colleagues.
Drift: the small steps first
Nicknames, shared personal details, private texts, repeated small gifts, hugs outside clinical need: steps that blur the line over time. Section 5 sets out the warning signs and how to prevent drift through awareness, transparency, policies, supervision and self-awareness.
Consequences and severity
Loss of trust and harm to patients; conditions, suspension or loss of registration for the professional; damage to public confidence. Section 7 covers the consequences of breaches for patients, professionals and the profession, and how breaches are ranked by severity.
The written response
Excuses, minimisation, I was just being friendly. Section 8 sets weak and strong responses side by side in five boundary complaints and draws out the pattern: honest admission, the regulator standard named, targeted CPD and documented safeguards.
Facing a complaint to your regulator or a fitness to practise inquiry? This course helps you remediate — and show it.
Buy this course — €100 (€70 with Bulk Buy 10)What the course covers
Eleven sections and 60 lessons, with a reflective quiz closing each of the first ten and a post-course assessment at the end.
Introduction — Why Boundaries Matter in Irish Healthcare
Five lessons
Core Principles of Professional Boundaries
Eight lessons
Types of Boundary Breaches — Emotional, Sexual, Financial, Digital
Five lessons
Regulator Perspectives — Medical Council, NMBI, PSI, Dental Council, CORU
Six lessons
Early Warning Signs of Boundary Drift and How to Prevent Them
Six lessons
Case Studies of Boundary Lapses in Irish Healthcare
Six lessons
Consequences of Boundary Breaches for Patients, Professionals, and the Profession
Four lessons
Weak vs Strong Responses to Boundary Complaints
Six lessons
Maintaining Digital Professional Boundaries
Five lessons
Embedding Boundaries into Identity, Reflection, and Resilience
Seven lessons
Conclusion and Key Takeaways
Two lessons, Conclusion and Key Takeaways, and the post-course assessment
Show every lesson title
- Section 01 · Introduction — Why Boundaries Matter in Irish Healthcare
- What Are Professional Boundaries?; Why Boundaries Matter for Patients; Why Boundaries Matter for Professionals; Why Boundaries Matter for Regulators; Consequences of Boundary Breaches.
- Section 02 · Core Principles of Professional Boundaries
- Patient-Centred Care First; Honesty, Probity, and Transparency; Respect and Equality; Emotional Boundaries; Sexual Boundaries; Financial Boundaries; Digital Boundaries; Professional Distance and Objectivity.
- Section 03 · Types of Boundary Breaches — Emotional, Sexual, Financial, Digital
- Emotional Boundary Breaches; Sexual Boundary Breaches; Financial Boundary Breaches; Digital Boundary Breaches; Consequences of Breaches.
- Section 04 · Regulator Perspectives — Medical Council, NMBI, PSI, Dental Council, CORU
- Medical Council of Ireland; Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI); Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI); Dental Council of Ireland; CORU — Health and Social Care Professionals Council; Shared Regulator Themes.
- Section 05 · Early Warning Signs of Boundary Drift and How to Prevent Them
- Over-Familiarity; Secretive or Selective Communication; Accepting Gifts or Favours; Physical Contact Beyond Care; Emotional Dependence; Preventing Boundary Drift.
- Section 06 · Case Studies of Boundary Lapses in Irish Healthcare
- Nursing — Gifts from Patients; Medicine — Personal Relationships; Pharmacy — Private Communication; Dentistry — Financial Misconduct; Allied Health (CORU) — Emotional Over-Involvement; Shared Lessons Across Cases.
- Section 07 · Consequences of Boundary Breaches for Patients, Professionals, and the Profession
- Consequences for Patients; Consequences for Professionals; Consequences for the Profession; Severity of Breaches.
- Section 08 · Weak vs Strong Responses to Boundary Complaints
- Nursing — Emotional Over-Involvement; Medicine — Social Media Contact; Pharmacy — Gift Acceptance; Dentistry — Financial Conflict of Interest; Allied Health (CORU) — Boundary Drift; Key Patterns.
- Section 09 · Maintaining Digital Professional Boundaries
- Why Digital Boundaries Matter; Social Media Boundaries; Telehealth and Virtual Consultations; Messaging and Email Boundaries; Digital Self-Awareness.
- Section 10 · Embedding Boundaries into Identity, Reflection, and Resilience
- Boundaries as Part of Professional Identity; Daily Habits That Strengthen Boundaries; Reflection as a Safeguard; Accountability and Supervision; Building Resilience to Sustain Boundaries; Mentorship and Role Modelling; Sustaining Boundaries Across a Career.
- Section 11 · Conclusion and Key Takeaways
- Conclusion; Key Takeaways.
How to respond to a boundary complaint or fitness to practise inquiry
Whether it is read by your employer, a preliminary committee or an inquiry committee, a response to a boundary complaint is read for whether you can be trusted to keep the boundary in future. These are the four parts to set out, and what the course gives you for each.
Good intentions explain how a boundary was crossed; they do not keep the next one.
- The boundaryWhat happened, named as a boundary issue, without I was just being friendly.Section 3 sets out the four types of breach, and Section 5 the signs of drift that come before them.
- The standardThe expectation in your own regulator’s code that it breached.Section 4 applies boundaries to doctors, nurses and midwives, pharmacists, dentists and the CORU professions.
- The effectOn the patient’s trust, dignity and care, and on your objectivity.Section 7 covers the consequences of breaches for patients, professionals and the profession.
- The safeguardsSupervision, a gifts or communication policy, care transferred where needed, targeted CPD.Sections 8 and 10 cover documented safeguards, supervision and reflection — and this course is a dated item for your portfolio.
It did not affect my care does not answer a complaint about the boundary itself.
Take advice from your indemnifier, your union or professional body, or a solicitor before you respond to anyone.
Facing a complaint to your regulator or a fitness to practise inquiry? This course helps you remediate — and show it.
Buy this course — €100 (€70 with Bulk Buy 10)How this course helps with a complaint or fitness to practise inquiry
Boundaries in the codes
The NMBI Code (2025) says a nurse or midwife must not use their professional position to “form a relationship of a sexual, emotional or exploitative nature”, and on colleagues asks them to “treat colleagues with respect”. In the cases CORU concluded in 2022 to 2024, professional boundaries were a theme in 7% (trends report). The course applies boundaries to each profession (Section 4), and covers the four types of breach (Section 3) and the warning signs of boundary drift (Section 5).
Insight and the response
The Medical Council’s Guidance on Sanctions says a doctor may “demonstrate insight by providing evidence of their understanding of the problem”, and NMBI’s Guidance on Sanctions lists acknowledgement and early admission, and evidence of an apology, among mitigating factors. Section 6 compares weak and strong responses in five case studies and Section 8 in five boundary complaints, across nursing, medicine, pharmacy, dentistry and the CORU professions. For the stages from the first letter to the High Court, see the fitness to practise process in Ireland, explained.
Read the primary sources
- Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics for Registered Nurses and Registered Midwives (2025)
- Guide to Professional Conduct and Ethics for Registered Medical Practitioners, 9th edition (2024)
- Code of Practice regarding Professional Behaviour and Ethical Conduct — Dental Council
- Code of Conduct for pharmacists — Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland
- Codes of Professional Conduct and Ethics — CORU
- CORU fitness to practise trends report (2022 to 2024)
- Guidance on Sanctions Imposed by the Medical Council (28 May 2024)
- Guidance on Sanctions — Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland
Who wrote it
Dr Shehzad Iqbal
Course author and facilitator, Healthcare Ethics Ireland
Dr Iqbal wrote this course. He combines clinical practice with a formal postgraduate qualification in healthcare law and ethics, and has worked with registrants across the regulated health professions, online and face to face, since 2020.
He founded Probity & Ethics in the United Kingdom in 2020 and Healthcare Ethics Courses, which issues the certificates, in 2025. More about us.
MBBS · MRCS · MRCGP · Postgraduate Certificate in Healthcare Law and Ethics, University of Dundee
Written and reviewed by Dr Shehzad Iqbal. Last reviewed .
In short
The Professional Boundaries Course is a two-hour, self-paced remediation course for healthcare professionals in Ireland — registered with the Medical Council, NMBI, the Dental Council, the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland or CORU — who face a complaint or a fitness to practise inquiry about a boundary with a patient, a service user or a colleague. It covers why boundaries matter to patients, professionals and regulators; the core principles, from patient-centred care and probity to emotional, sexual, financial and digital boundaries and professional distance; the four types of breach; boundaries for doctors, nurses and midwives, pharmacists, dentists and the CORU professions; the early warning signs of boundary drift and how to prevent it, including dual relationships; case studies across nursing, medicine, pharmacy, dentistry and the CORU professions; the consequences and severity of breaches; weak and strong responses to boundary complaints; digital boundaries; and embedding boundaries in identity, reflection and resilience. Eleven sections, the first ten closing with a reflective quiz, a post-course assessment, and a dated certificate from Healthcare Ethics Courses. It is remediation and dated evidence of it; it decides no complaint, and it is not a substitute for advice from your indemnifier, your union or professional body, or a solicitor.
What professional boundaries are
Professional boundaries are the limits that separate a professional role from personal, emotional, sexual or financial involvement with patients. That is the course’s definition (Section 1). Boundaries keep care impartial, respectful and focused on the patient’s welfare, and protect professionals from conflicts of interest and blurred roles. They apply in clinical encounters and in social, financial and digital contexts.
The course treats a breach as something with a history: boundary drift, such as over-familiarity, secretive communication or repeated small gifts, before the breach itself (Section 5). A dual relationship — a friendship or another role alongside the professional one — is one of the situations it asks professionals to avoid with patients and service users, or to manage openly (Sections 5 and 10).
In a written response, name the boundary and the standard, describe its effect on the patient and on your objectivity, and set out the safeguards now in place.
What these words mean
The three terms that decide where a complaint goes, and the words the course is built on.
- Preliminary Proceedings Committee
- The committee of the Medical Council, NMBI, the PSI and CORU that looks at a complaint before any inquiry: it may take no further action, suggest mediation, conclude the matter with an undertaking or a consent where its Act allows, or refer the complaint to an inquiry. At the Dental Council, the Fitness to Practise Committee considers whether there is a prima facie case.
- Fitness to practise inquiry
- The hearing stage: before the Fitness to Practise Committee at the Medical Council, NMBI and the Dental Council, and before the Professional Conduct Committee or the Health Committee at the PSI and CORU. Any sanction heavier than an advice, admonishment or censure takes effect only when the High Court confirms it.
- Professional misconduct
- A ground of complaint under the Medical Practitioners, Nurses and Midwives, Pharmacy and Health and Social Care Professionals Acts, and a ground for an application for an inquiry under the Dentists Act. The Dental Council describes it as a serious falling short in the standards expected of a dentist; the PSI as behaviour that goes against its Code of Conduct for registered pharmacists; CORU as any act, omission or pattern of conduct that breaches the Code.
Boundary drift, dual relationships and the other terms the course uses
- Professional boundaries
- The limits that separate the professional role from personal, emotional, sexual or financial involvement with patients.
- Boundary drift
- Small lapses — over-familiarity, secretive communication, repeated gifts — that gradually blur the line between professional and personal.
- Dual relationship
- A second relationship with a patient or a service user alongside the professional one, such as a friendship or a second role. The course asks professionals to avoid dual relationships with patients and service users.
- Emotional boundary breach
- Over-involvement, dependency, or a blurred professional and personal relationship.
- Sexual boundary breach
- Any sexual or intimate behaviour with a current patient, or using a professional relationship for intimacy.
- Financial boundary breach
- Exploiting patients for financial gain, or creating hidden conflicts of interest: overcharging, unnecessary treatment, expensive gifts.
- Digital boundary breach
- Inappropriate or unprofessional conduct online, or through email, messaging or telehealth platforms.
- Professional distance
- Keeping care impartial and objective: no favouritism, no over-identification with patients, no treating close friends or family.
- Remediation
- Targeted CPD, reflective writing, supervision and documented safeguards such as audits and policies, linked to the boundary concern.
The Acts a complaint is made and decided under
Ireland’s five health regulators each work under their own Act, all five amended by the Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Act 2020. These are the sections that say who may complain, on what grounds, and who looks at the complaint first.
Medical Council — Medical Practitioners Act 2007, section 57
A person, including the Council, may complain to the chief executive officer. The grounds include professional misconduct, poor professional performance, a relevant medical disability, and a failure to comply with a condition, an undertaking or a consent. The chief executive officer looks at the complaint first, an Authorised Officer may gather the facts, and the Preliminary Proceedings Committee decides whether there is enough cause to take further action. Read it.
For this course: Section 4 applies boundaries to doctors, and Section 8 covers a strong response to a patient’s friend request accepted online.
NMBI — Nurses and Midwives Act 2011, section 55
A person, including the Board, may complain to the chief executive officer. The grounds include professional misconduct, poor professional performance, non-compliance with a code of professional conduct, a relevant medical disability, and an irregularity in relation to the custody, prescription or supply of a controlled drug. A Preliminary Proceedings Committee, assisted by a case officer, may refer a complaint to the Fitness to Practise Committee for a sworn oral inquiry. Read it.
For this course: The NMBI Code addresses relationships of a sexual, emotional or exploitative nature; Section 8 covers a response to emotional over-involvement.
Dental Council — Dentists Act 1985, section 38
The Council or any person may apply to the Fitness to Practise Committee for an inquiry, on grounds that include alleged professional misconduct and alleged unfitness to practise by reason of physical or mental disability. The Fitness to Practise Committee considers whether there is a prima facie case, and if there is, it holds the inquiry. Read it.
For this course: Section 4 applies boundaries to dentists, and Section 8 covers a strong response to a financial conflict of interest.
Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland — Pharmacy Act 2007, section 35
A complaint may be made in writing by or on behalf of any person, or by the registrar. The grounds include professional misconduct, poor professional performance, the effect on practice of a physical or mental ailment, emotional disturbance, or alcohol or drug addiction, and a failure to comply with a condition or an undertaking. The PSI separates a concern from a statutory complaint, which is for issues of a serious nature; its Preliminary Proceedings Committee may refer a complaint to a committee of inquiry or to mediation. Read it.
For this course: Section 4 applies boundaries to pharmacists, and Section 6 follows a pharmacist who shared a personal mobile number with a patient.
CORU — Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005, section 52
A complaint may be made to the Council by or on behalf of any person, or by a registration board. The grounds include professional misconduct, which CORU describes as any act, omission or pattern of conduct that breaches the Code, and poor professional performance. The Preliminary Proceedings Committee screens out complaints that are trivial, vexatious, without substance or made in bad faith; the Professional Conduct Committee deals with conduct or competence, and the Health Committee with whether a registrant’s health is affecting their ability to practise. Read it.
For this course: Professional boundaries were a theme in 7% of the cases CORU concluded in 2022 to 2024; Section 8 covers a response to boundary drift with a vulnerable client.
Also engaged: Sanctions — advice, admonishment or censure, conditions, suspension and cancellation (erasure under the Dentists Act): Medical Practitioners Act s.71, Nurses and Midwives Act s.69, Dentists Act ss.39 to 41, Pharmacy Act s.48, Health and Social Care Professionals Act s.66 · High Court confirmation — the heavier sanctions take effect only when the High Court confirms them; an advice, admonishment or censure on confirmation or once the appeal window of 21 or 30 days passes without an appeal · The 2020 Act — the Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Act 2020, which amended all five Acts in stages from 2021 to 2025.
What happens after a complaint reaches an Irish regulator
Each regulator has its own Act and its own names for the stages, and your letter tells you which stage you are at. At each of them the same three things are worth showing in writing: that you see what went wrong, that you understand it against your regulator’s code, and what you have changed, with dated evidence.
The complaint and the grounds
Anyone may complain, including the regulator itself. Under the Medical Practitioners Act and the Nurses and Midwives Act the complaint goes to the chief executive officer; under the Pharmacy Act it may be made by or on behalf of any person or by the registrar; under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act by or on behalf of any person or by a registration board. Under the Dentists Act the Council or any person applies to the Fitness to Practise Committee for an inquiry. Professional misconduct is a ground of complaint under the four other Acts and, under the Dentists Act, a ground for an application for an inquiry.
The preliminary stage
The Medical Council, NMBI, the PSI and CORU each have a Preliminary Proceedings Committee. At the Medical Council the chief executive officer looks at a complaint first and may assign an Authorised Officer, and the committee decides whether there is enough cause to take further action. At NMBI the committee may refer a complaint to the Fitness to Practise Committee for a sworn oral inquiry, or suggest mediation or informal resolution; at the PSI it may refer a complaint to a committee of inquiry or to mediation; at CORU it screens out complaints that are trivial, vexatious, without substance or made in bad faith. At the Dental Council, the Fitness to Practise Committee considers whether there is a prima facie case.
Undertakings, consents and mediation
A complaint can be concluded by agreement in some cases. At the Medical Council’s preliminary stage a doctor may be asked to undertake not to repeat the conduct, or to consent to censure (2025 procedures). At NMBI in 2024, 12 undertakings or consents concluded matters at the preliminary stage and the Fitness to Practise Committee recommended 32 (State of Complaints 2024). Undertakings were the largest single Committee of Inquiry outcome in the cases CORU concluded in 2022 to 2024: 13, against 7 censures (trends report). In 2024 the Dental Council accepted undertakings from a dentist instead of making a High Court application (Annual Report 2024). Mediation at NMBI and CORU needs the consent of both sides.
The inquiry
The inquiry committee is the Fitness to Practise Committee at the Medical Council, NMBI and the Dental Council, and the Professional Conduct Committee or the Health Committee at the PSI and CORU. At NMBI allegations against a nurse or midwife must be proven beyond reasonable doubt. Medical Council inquiries are held in public unless the Council decides on a hearing in private or part private (Medical Council); CORU says its Professional Conduct Committee hearings are normally held in public and its Health Committee hearings normally in private.
The sanction and the High Court
Sanctions run from advice, admonishment or censure (admonishment or censure at the PSI and CORU) through conditions and suspension to cancellation, called erasure under the Dentists Act (MPA s.71, NMA s.69, Dentists Act s.39, Pharmacy Act s.48, HSCP Act s.66). The heavier sanctions take effect only when the High Court confirms them; an advice, admonishment or censure takes effect on confirmation or once the appeal window passes without an appeal: 21 days for doctors, nurses, midwives and dentists, 30 days for pharmacists and CORU registrants (MPA s.74, NMA s.72, Dentists Act s.41, Pharmacy Act s.50, HSCP Act s.68).
Interim measures and your first reply
Separately, the Medical Council says interim suspension is possible under section 60 of the Medical Practitioners Act 2007; where there is a serious and immediate risk, the PSI’s Council can seek suspension from the High Court; and the Dental Council may apply to the High Court for suspension under section 44 of the Dentists Act. None of the five regulators publishes a fixed deadline for a first reply: the Medical Council gives not less than two weeks to respond to an Investigation Report, and NMBI says you may request an extension of time. Take advice before you reply.
Facing a complaint to your regulator or a fitness to practise inquiry? This course helps you remediate — and show it.
Buy this course — €100 (€70 with Bulk Buy 10)Courses with the Ethics and Professionalism pair written to your own regulator’s code — for doctors, nurses and midwives, dentists, pharmacists and all other healthcare professionals, or every course →
Frequently asked questions
What is boundary drift?
The course uses the term for small lapses that gradually blur the line between professional and personal: nicknames and shared personal details, private texts or calls, repeated small gifts, physical contact beyond clinical need, emotional dependence. Section 5 sets out the warning signs and how to prevent drift through awareness, transparency, policies, supervision and self-awareness.
What is a dual relationship, and is one always a breach?
A dual relationship is a second relationship alongside the professional one, such as a friendship or a second role, for example working for a supplier. The course asks professionals to follow regulator and workplace guidance on dual relationships and to avoid them with patients and service users; where one arises, it should be declared and managed openly, with care transferred where needed (Sections 5, 6 and 10).
A patient gave me a gift. Was it wrong to accept it?
The course treats repeated or expensive gifts as a warning sign of boundary drift and a financial boundary issue, and compares weak and strong responses to gifts in nursing and pharmacy (Sections 6 and 8). Check your employer’s policy and your regulator’s code, record what happened, and take advice before you respond to a complaint.
The complaint is about a colleague, not a patient. Is this the right course?
This course concentrates on boundaries with patients and service users, and applies its principles of professional distance, transparency and conflicts of interest to working relationships. For hierarchy, respect, bullying and conflicts of interest between colleagues, Ethical Boundaries with Patients and Colleagues has a section on boundaries with colleagues, with a lesson on each, and colleague case studies.
Should I take advice before I respond?
Yes — before anything is written to the regulator, a committee or your employer. Ask your indemnifier, your union or professional body, or a solicitor to read your response before it is sent, and keep a copy of everything you send. Nothing on this page is legal advice.
Can this course be used as evidence of remediation?
It can be part of the evidence, but no course decides a complaint. It gives you a dated certificate of 2 CPD hours. Section 8 shows the evidence a strong response sets beside it: targeted CPD, reflective writing, supervision, and documented safeguards such as a gifts or communication policy.
How long does it take, and how long do I have access?
The course is 2 CPD hours, self-paced, with access for twelve months from purchase. The certificate is issued on completion, dated, with the course title and the CPD hours. Whether the hours count towards your own CPD requirement is for your regulator or scheme to say: doctors must undertake a minimum of 50 hours in each scheme year, and CORU registrants must achieve 30 CPD credits in every 12-month period.
Can I get a certificate with a later date?
No. The certificate records the date you completed the course, and that date does not change. If your regulator, an inquiry committee or an employer asks for recent evidence, you buy the course again: half price within twelve months of your original purchase, the full €100 after that.
Will anyone be told that I am taking the course?
No. Nobody is told you are enrolled. We do not share participant details with any regulator, an employer, a union or an indemnifier; the certificate reaches them only if you attach it to your own response.
Courses that work alongside this one
A boundary complaint can involve gifts, money, messages or a colleague. These are the courses that pair with this one.
Ethical Boundaries with Patients and Colleagues
Boundaries with patients (emotional, sexual, financial, digital) and with colleagues (hierarchy, respect, bullying, conflicts of interest), and weak and strong responses.
Social Media Professionalism and Boundaries for Healthcare Professionals
Confidentiality and identifiability online, boundaries with patients and colleagues online, personal accounts and privacy settings, and remediation after an online lapse.
Financial Integrity for Healthcare Professionals
Billing, fees and claims, conflicts of interest, gifts and sponsorship, prescribing and referrals, and remediation after a financial concern.
Probity and Honesty for Healthcare Professionals
Integrity, transparency and fairness, dishonesty set against clinical error, probity in documentation and billing, and weak and strong responses to a probity concern.
Professional Ethics Course
Probity, boundaries and conflicts of interest, digital professionalism, weak and strong demonstrations of professional ethics, and ethical portfolios.
Insight for Fitness to Practise
What insight is, how the five regulators frame it, weak and strong demonstrations of insight, and how insight is shown in a portfolio and at a hearing.
Remediation for Fitness to Practise
What a regulator looks for in remediation, what a remediation portfolio contains, case studies across five professions, and remediation at a hearing.
Professional Boundaries Course
This course. Emotional, sexual, financial and digital boundaries, boundary drift and dual relationships, case studies, and weak and strong responses to a boundary complaint.
Start today, finish at your own pace
Immediate access on purchase. Twelve months' access, a dated certificate on completion, and 2 CPD hours issued by Healthcare Ethics Courses.