Caught Off Guard in the Clinic

I’ve always been someone who takes their professional responsibilities seriously. I’m a nurse in my early 30s at a bustling clinic where patients range from everyday aches and pains to more complex cases requiring careful handling. My personal life has been mostly quiet, but over the past year or so, I’ve started exploring some aspects of kink with my partner. We’ve kept it mostly light-hearted, playfully teasing each other in private sessions when we can carve out time for it. Recently, though, things got a bit more complicated. My partner and I had discussed adding an element of role-play to our existing dynamic, nothing too extreme, just enough to add some variety and fun to what we were already doing together. We’d agreed that if I ever wanted to explore this side of my sexuality in public spaces, it would only be with him by my side. Last week, he surprised me at the clinic during a slow afternoon when patients weren’t around. He dressed up as a sort-of patient needing care but also looking for some playful attention from his nurse, a role I was initially hesitant to play out in such an unconventional setting. The idea of bending the rules of my professional conduct felt both thrilling and wrong all at once. When he appeared, I tried to brush him off gently, suggesting we take it elsewhere given the environment. But there was something about seeing him there that made me want to indulge just a bit more than usual. We ended up moving into an empty exam room for a few minutes of playful banter and light touches, keeping things just this side of professional misconduct. Since then, I’ve been ruminating over the ethical implications of what we did. Is it acceptable to play with these boundaries when my primary role is so clearly defined? Do others in similar positions ever feel okay playing around with aspects of their professional and personal lives intertwining like this? I’m looking for advice on how to navigate this situation moving forward, do I stick strictly to private spaces, or can there be some kind of boundary that allows me to explore while maintaining my professionalism? Am I the asshole here, overthinking things, or is it truly a line that shouldn’t be crossed?