ED Nurses - Question about pelvic exams...

8 posts · started Sep 23, 2004

ednursevt1 Sep 23, 2004, 1:28 AM
Hi fellow men in nursing -

We are having a spirited debate about the male nurses in the ED being the 2nd person in the exam room for a pelvic exam. Aside from sexual assaults, in which we usually have a female SANE, the routine pelvics are becoming a problem for us, especially at night when 85% of the staff is male.

Any thoughts on this issue? Any experience in other ED's?
Thanks!
1mg.epi Sep 25, 2004, 9:28 AM
I will NOT, could NOT, would NOT although I can. I will NOT, could NOT, would NOT because I'm a man. Although, a nurse I am and SANE trained I can, I will NOT, could NOT, would not Because I'm a man.

I was SANE trained due to the male CODE "R"s that came in from the prisons.
SoldierNurse Oct 7, 2004, 8:08 AM
[ QUOTE ]
ednursevt1 said:
Hi fellow men in nursing -

We are having a spirited debate about the male nurses in the ED being the 2nd person in the exam room for a pelvic exam. Aside from sexual assaults, in which we usually have a female SANE, the routine pelvics are becoming a problem for us, especially at night when 85% of the staff is male.

Any thoughts on this issue? Any experience in other ED's?

Thanks!

[/ QUOTE ]
Forgive me ignorance...what is SANE?
Randy, RN Nov 23, 2004, 5:45 PM
I see no problem with it, at all, as long as there are TWO licensed (MD and nurse or whatever) during the exam. Just don't see a problem with it. Not enough of us nurses to pick and choose based upon sex.

The cardinal rule I always follow is I never discuss sex issues alone, am alone in room, or anything ALONE with a female or a male in any room in ER. Ever. I will go in to give meds, start IVs, etc. but always leave door OPEN.

I worked with a male nurse who thought nothing of counseling women in ER in regards to sex education, inquiring if they had "rough sex" etc, alone with a female in a room. I think he is a complete idiot and probably borderlining on malpractice.
phil34 Dec 2, 2004, 10:45 PM
Take this to your hospital. Although it was thought by hospitals to discriminate against men. One OB nurse won his right to work there.
On February 19, 2004, the Supreme
Court of Appeals of West Virginia overturned
a lower court decision that a
hospital’s gender requirement for
OB/GYN nurses was a bona fide occupational
qualification (BFOQ) under
the West Virginia Human Rights Act.
Slivka v. Camden-Clark Memorial
Hosp., 2004 WL 323199 (W.Va. Feb.
19, 2004). Under that statute, the only
statutory defense to a facially discriminatory
policy is the BFOQ exception.
Typically, employers demonstrate a
BFOQ defense by articulating that the
sex, religion, national origin or age of
an employee is a bona fide occupational
qualification reasonably necessary to
the normal operation of the employer’s
business or enterprise.