"Getting too attached to the patients. Especially in a clinic you see these patients grow up. Its important to keep things professional and never get too personal."

"Throughout my time precepting I have learned that it is challenging not to get too attached. Caring for children requires a lot of compassion and it also requires you to get the child to trust you so they will allow an unfamiliar face to care for them. It is difficult leaving and not knowing what may happen to a child after you leave them. I also find it hard caring for children that may have experienced a lot of trauma in their childhood as you may not know what will happen to them after they leave. One way I avoid getting attached is at the end of my shift I leave my work at work so I can maintain a balance between my work and personal life. I did my capstone project on compassion fatigue and I learned a lot from current pediatric nurses on how they prevent it from happening. Another thing I have learned to do is if it is a traumatic experience such as a patient code or needs life-flighted or something serious it is okay to debrief with staff members or the hospital chaplain so you don't bring all those feeling home from work with you."