[mmutk]

I give em little options, we are too busy to play boy/girl barbie. I keep em covered as best I can and have never had a woman say a thing to me...

[michael0123]

Originally Posted by Crocuta

I understand your concern. There are a couple of things you can do - Tazzi had a great suggestion, and not just for ECG's. I think that sometimes we don't consider all of our options when performing procedures. Do we really need to expose a patient to get the job done?

Maintain a very professional, matter of fact attitude when performing any such procedure that will intrude on a patient's private space. I've also trained myself to always use the back of my hand to push breast tissue out of the way - that way you minimize the perception that you're touching inappropriately.

I couldn't agree more. I also use the back of my hand and strive for minimal exposure. The pt's always appreciate a no-nonsense attitude.

[RunnerRN]

In our dept, we have a male/male female/female understanding for the most part. For non-emergency emergencies, I try to offer the same sex tech. For CP, they get what they get. For teens, I really try to get the same sex - and always have someone of the same sex in the room if the operator is of the opposite sex.
I learned the towel trick as well, and use it on any female. There is no reason to expose the entire chest. I get really upset when techs pull the gown down to the waist - what do they think they're going to do to the right side of the chest? If I'm in the room, I'll discreetly grab a towel and place it over the breast.
Small things like that make a HUGE difference to pts.

[CrazyPremed]

I'm a male tech./nursing student, and I find that if I explain what I'm doing in a very careful way, then I get a good response. Once I feel the patient is ready, I usually disrobe them.

I work in an busy ER, and - at this point - the pt needs to understand that things are going to happen. They will be poked, prodded, and jabbed. I would rather have the pt disrobe and get a clear EKG for the doc, than to have some unnecessary artifact due to some towel in the way (I know I'm going to get flamed for this ). Also, I never even thought to ask a female tech to do my EKG's in the beginning (due to being a stupid newbie), and I've been doing them too long to start now. Oh well. I guess I'll be asking for legal advice in the not so far future .

CrazyPremed

[Larry77]

I'd like to say I've never had a problem with a female pt feeling awkward or being offended because I'm very careful to explain everything beforehand and to remain professional but...

Just the other day I went to bring a patient back and first thing she says to me is I would like to have a "female" nurse because I don't think "boys" should be nurses. Now mind you this was a girl in her late 20's in for n/v/d. I was taken a back and was actually speechless. I finally said the truth and said, "Well your in luck because this room is actually assigned to one of our female nurses and I was just helping her by bringing you back".

The whole rest of the shift I was shaking my head about this incident. In 12 yrs in this field this was the FIRST time something like this has happened.

[ikimiwi]

our male tech will usually ask the female to lift her breast, but the males usually don't do EKGs on females without a female present. Its just not worth the potential problems. In the initial cp protocol, there is always something for the other person to do. and if I need to cath a young male, I will ask a male to do it, just for the patients comfort.

[Jennifer, RN]

Where I work, EKGs are done by the nurse or tech assigned to that pt, regardless of sex. We are too short staffed and too busy to search around for someone else to do them. You just learn to try and keep pt covered as much as possible (the breast never has to be exposed). And all of my EKGs are crystal clear. There is a double standard anyways, the male nurses don't want to cath females, yet female nurses cath males all the time.

[TXstudentRN]

I greatly appreciate all of you that go out of your way to keep as little exposed as possible. At times I've had a male tech come in and literally just pull my shirt/bra up to my neck, fully exposed, no towel or anything. EKG is one thing but for an echo, especially when it's in-depth and can take up to/over an hour, I felt SO exposed, even though at this point I have lost almost every ounce of modesty in me. It doesn't take much to cover things up and makes a HUGE difference in how the patient feels. So major kudos to all of you that maintain as much dignity as possible even though as a professional it IS "just a body" and nothing more. And a bit off topic, but warm gel for an echo goes a long way, as well as not having fingertips of ice when placing leads!

[Larry77]

Originally Posted by Jennifer, RN

There is a double standard anyways, the male nurses don't want to cath females, yet female nurses cath males all the time.

That is not the case where I work...we try to have male staff do the male cath's (if possible) and the male staff will do any female that is old enough or young enough to not be bothered by us doing the procedure.

[danh3190]

Does the towel trick really make women feel better? It sort of seems to me that the towel sort of accentuates the invasion of space. But I'm a guy and don't really understand (on an emotional basis) what the big deal is, I just accept that some women feel that way.

I always try to be as professional as I can. Explain what I'm doing and why. As I became proficient at EKG's I learned to avoid exposing much. And I avoid doing EKGs alone on females if possible just to avoid any complications.