Setting Boundaries in Healthcare: A Survival Guide for Clinicians

In the demanding world of healthcare, where patient needs never stop and the culture often celebrates self-sacrifice, setting boundaries can feel impossible—or even selfish. Yet establishing healthy limits is essential for sustainable careers, quality patient care, and personal wellbeing. Without effective boundaries, clinicians risk burnout, compassion fatigue, and diminished ability to serve those who need them most.

What Does Setting Boundaries in Healthcare Really Mean?

“What’s coming up for me with setting boundaries is just knowing as far as what are the hours that I’m going to be working,” explains Dr. Grizelda Anguiano, a mental health pediatrician and coach. But boundaries extend far beyond work schedules—they encompass emotional, mental, and physical limits that protect your wellbeing while allowing you to provide excellent care.

Gillian Faith, a rehabilitation specialist and coach, frames the challenge in terms of our hyper-connected world: “We’re in a world where we’re always connected and we’re always on. So making conscious decisions about, when you go home, are you going to leave your phone in the car for an hour to let everybody settle and have some family time that’s uninterrupted… where do you draw the line?”

Amy Bubser, a life transition coach who worked as an ultrasound technologist, adds another dimension: “Creating a limit or boundary on our emotional or physical and our mental energy, just to make sure we can still be that compassionate caretaker without sacrificing our own wellbeing.”

These perspectives highlight that setting boundaries in healthcare isn’t about building walls—it’s about creating sustainable practices that support both clinician wellbeing and patient care.

Essential Boundaries Every Healthcare Professional Should Consider

While boundary needs vary by specialty, setting, and individual preferences, several types of boundaries are particularly important for healthcare professionals:

1. Time Boundaries

Dr. Anguiano describes how she manages her clinical time: “I think about the time it takes to prepare for a patient… having to find a little corner, little place where I can go to, to get prepared and that way just sets a tone for the day.”

This intentional preparation time creates a buffer that allows clinicians to transition into patient care mode mentally prepared and focused.

Other important time boundaries include:

• Designated lunch breaks (even brief ones)
• Clear start and end times to shifts when possible
• Protected time for documentation
• Transition time between work and home

2. Communication Boundaries

In an era of constant connectivity, setting boundaries around communication is crucial. Gillian suggests considering: “Are you going to just not look at emails until you know it’s now the next workday rather than having endless alerts and emails?”

Dr. Lillian Liang Emlet, an intensivist and emergency physician, shares an experience that many clinicians will recognize: “Someone had texted during the day shift to ask on me and the night shift how things were going. And I was [thinking], ‘You should be with your family. You should not be wondering. And you should be trusting that I’m taking care of things.'”

Effective communication boundaries might include:

• Designated times for checking emails/messages
• Clear expectations about after-hours contact
• Use of “focus” or “do not disturb” settings on devices
• Protocols for handoffs between shifts

3. Emotional Boundaries

Healthcare work is emotionally demanding, requiring clinicians to navigate others’ trauma, grief, and anxiety daily. Setting boundaries around emotional energy is essential for preventing compassion fatigue.

Amy emphasizes the importance of “creating that boundary and being able to speak to that, whether it’s directly or in a way that the other person can hear, that you’re going to satisfy taking care of your own self while you’re also getting the job done.”

Practical emotional boundaries might include:

• Brief mindfulness practices between patient encounters
• Designated debriefing time after difficult cases
• Permission to step away briefly when emotionally overwhelmed
• Clear distinctions between empathy and taking on others’ emotions

4. Value-Based Boundaries

Dr. Emlet highlights the importance of recognizing potential conflicts between personal values and care situations: “A lot of times we talk about moral injury… whenever [clinicians are] having to do care that is discordant for what they perceive their values to be.”

She suggests reframing these situations: “Even though it may not be what you would want, you’re serving the greater good by doing whatever the patient their family wants… we are not the other person, and so it’s just an understanding that we have some boundaries. It allows people to be able to be themselves and make the better decisions, and you can feel that you’re not violating your own values.”

This boundary around values helps clinicians navigate ethically complex situations while maintaining their integrity.

Practical Strategies for Setting Boundaries in Healthcare

Recognizing the need for boundaries is one thing—implementing them in busy healthcare environments is another challenge entirely. Our coaches share several practical approaches:

Schedule Chunking

Dr. Anguiano explains her method: “Chunking of the schedule. Even if it’s when is it my family time?… I’m more conscious about either putting myself on focus mode versus now I’m at the office. And my family knows that if my phone is on focus, that means I’m with the patient so they can send a text. And as soon as I’m done, I’m going to go back.”

This clear delineation helps both the clinician and their loved ones understand when they’re available and when they’re focused on patient care.

Triage Your Personal Life

Amy suggests applying clinical skills to personal boundary-setting: “Just like in the ER when you triage a patient, what’s most urgent, whereas what’s something that can wait… You’re doing this in the ER, also in their own life. Wait, is this really something that needs my attention right now?”

This approach helps clinicians make conscious choices about where to direct their limited energy rather than automatically responding to every demand.

Theme Your Days

Dr. Emlet shares her flexible approach to boundaries: “For me, it’s just by having some general tendency rules… Mondays are generally for my daughter. So like things related to the business to coaching to clients that my daughter is generally Mondays. Tuesdays has a certain flavor and theme. Wednesdays through Fridays is all the academic clinical work.”

This thematic approach provides structure while allowing for flexibility—particularly helpful for those who, like Dr. Emlet, “revolt inside when I hear the word boundary.”

Use Timers

Dr. Anguiano offers a simple but effective tip: “When I have charts to do, I’m gonna say, okay, let me get this done and I’m gonna put a timer for myself.” This creates a natural endpoint for tasks that could otherwise expand indefinitely.

Enlist Boundary Buddies

Gillian suggests recruiting support: “Using a buddy or a friend, and explaining to them what you’re doing and asking them to help you to remind you or support you… having somebody that is on the same page as you, that can give you a gentle nudge here and there.”

This accountability can be particularly valuable when establishing new boundaries that might feel uncomfortable at first.

Communicating Your Boundaries Effectively

Perhaps the most challenging aspect of setting boundaries in healthcare is communicating them to colleagues, supervisors, and even patients. Our coaches offer several insights on how to approach these potentially difficult conversations:

Start with Self-Permission

Gillian emphasizes self-awareness as the first step: “First of all, the awareness, the awareness that yes, you need to draw a line somewhere to take care of yourself and understanding and realizing that you are important enough to do that… almost giving yourself permission.”

Dr. Anguiano agrees: “Becoming aware, accepting it ourselves that this is really important to me. And knowing that it’s not selfish. It really is for the better of the patient, the better of the hospital, the better of my own family.”

This internal permission creates the foundation for communicating boundaries externally.

Frame Boundaries as Beneficial for All

When communicating boundaries, focusing on how they improve patient care can reduce resistance. As Gillian notes, “If we take that time, we’re going to come back more refreshed and be in a better position to get through the work faster or more efficiently.”

Dr. Anguiano echoes this perspective: “It’s healthy for our patients. It’s healthy for our colleagues. It’s healthy for ourselves. And it is that win.”

Be Clear and Specific

Rather than vague references to needing “more balance,” communicate specific boundaries. Dr. Anguiano suggests language like: “Hey, you have access to me. I signed up for nine to five, but yet you’re getting me nine to 10. Okay. But this other time or on the weekend or however… this is when I am available to cover an extra shift, or this is when I am available.”

This clarity helps others understand exactly what to expect and reduces the likelihood of boundary violations.

Acknowledge the Team Impact

Dr. Emlet points to the importance of reciprocity and transparency in team settings: “Having a good working group to decide who’s going to cover each other… keeping track so the group feels everything is equitable and really being transparent as a leader.”

Recognizing that boundary-setting affects the team and addressing those impacts directly creates a culture where boundaries are respected.

Overcoming Common Barriers to Setting Boundaries

Despite understanding the importance of boundaries, many healthcare professionals struggle to implement them. Several common barriers emerge:

The Guilt Factor

Dr. Emlet describes the “immense guilt for if we get sick” that many clinicians feel—a guilt that can extend to any boundary that might impact colleagues.

The coaches suggest that acknowledging this guilt without letting it dictate actions is key. As Dr. Anguiano notes, “Instead of feeling bad for creating a boundary, it’s just knowing that there is true value and then we all can win.”

Perfectionism and Identity

Many healthcare professionals build their identity around being always available, always competent, always selfless. Setting boundaries can feel like a threat to this professional identity.

Reframing boundaries as essential to maintaining that competence and availability long-term can help overcome this barrier.

Workplace Culture

Some healthcare environments actively discourage boundary-setting, viewing it as lack of commitment or teamwork.

Finding like-minded colleagues can help counter this cultural pressure. Dr. Emlet references “the wellness community and our MedThrive community as well, just finding like-minded people who want to actually support and uplift a different way of being a healthcare professional this day and age.”

Rigidity About Boundaries

For some, the concept of boundaries feels too rigid or restrictive. Dr. Emlet shares her personal evolution: “I literally revolt inside when I hear the word boundary. And yet I also recognize that I actually do have boundaries. They’re just flexible. They’re not very rigid.”

She suggests that people “begin to just practice and play with them rather than feeling like they’re set in stone… you have to be a little bit malleable in general.”

This flexible approach can make boundary-setting more accessible to those who resist rigid structures.

The Bottom Line on Setting Boundaries in Healthcare

Setting boundaries in healthcare isn’t selfish—it’s essential for sustainable careers and quality patient care. As Gillian reminds us, “We can’t pour from an empty cup. So we have to take care of ourselves and if we do that, we can then continue to give to the patients that come into our care every day.”

Dr. Anguiano emphasizes that boundaries are “okay… possible… healthy for our patients… healthy for our colleagues… healthy for ourselves.”

Whether you prefer structured, clear-cut boundaries or Dr. Emlet’s more flexible “general tendency rules,” finding boundary practices that work for you is a crucial component of a sustainable healthcare career.

Remember that boundaries, like any skill, improve with practice. Starting with small, manageable boundaries builds confidence for establishing more significant ones later. The goal isn’t perfection but progress toward a more sustainable approach to your vital work in healthcare.

For more support in establishing healthy boundaries and other aspects of well-being in healthcare, book a free discovery call to learn more about individual coaching, group programs, and the MedThrive community.

Want weekly tips for thriving in healthcare? Join our community of healthcare professionals making positive changes in their careers and lives.