[CEG]

Originally Posted by 58flyer

Sorry to read that you had a bad experience. You are not alone. Would you like to share it with us? That's how we learn. Of course if you don't want to, I respect that.

First off, I am 27 years old and have 2 children so I have had a lot of different people "down there" and have never been close to the experience I had with this man. First I was told that I had scheduled the exam at the wrong point in my cycle (I believe it was about 4 days before ovulation- cervix should have been pretty open). Then he began the exam without the standard "You'll feel me touch" which is a little disconcerting. At that point he realized there was no chaperone in the room, opened the door, yelled at someone to come in and we waited, me in stirrups, him sitting at my bottom end. The door opened again and a woman came in (I say woman and not nurse because I had no idea who she was). He proceded with the exam, pronounce my cervix "weird", muttered that he needed a large speculum, got it, put it in painfully, moved it around to visualize my (I have since learned) posterior cervix. That exam hurt worse than having membranes stripped, water broken, any pap I have ever had, etc (not worse than pushing out a 9 lb baby though ). I bled following this exam for quite a while and I was sore for several days.

My feeling is that this was a particulary unskilled provider- no one has ever had to fight to see my cervix or use a larger speculum. It was painful, degrading, and unnecessary. He was disrepectful to me. I am sure the only reason he had any patients was that he was a military provider and no one had any choice.

Using the word horrific was probably a little much, but this was not a good experience and has made me stressed for every exam I have had since then. I have never had a similar experience since. I always chose female providers and when I have risked having an on-call male doctor it worked out that I had a female midwife.

On a side note, a friend on mine had an on-call doc she didn't know for her son's birth. Each time he examined her he would throw back the sheets, check her cervix, say she would probably need a c-section, and leave with her butt out in the air and her trying to reach down to cover herself with the sheet. She found it quite degrading. A good teaching point for all providers, male or female.

[rhiannonwolf]

I am shocked and mortified that the clinic that you work in does not have a chaperone for their patients during gynecologic exams performed by male docs or nurses. I know that at my clinic and my hospital, it is MANDATORY that a female is present for all cervical checks and breast exams. If not, there is a huge liability for our institution. What about all of the patients who have been sexually abused? Is the doctor and male nurse that you work with sensitive to this dominating issue? The patient can always come back and slap a lawsuit against us if we do not do this. It is a violation of patients' rights and we as nurses or in your case a student nurse should be advocates for the people we care for. I am an OB nurse and I know firsthand that about 30% of all of our clientele have some past history of sexual abuse or domestic violence. I hope that you can go to a superior of your clinic and express your concerns. It just burns me up when I hear abou cases like this because, in your situation, if it is a free clinic, the patients are probably on the lower end of the socioeconomic ladder and this egomaniac doctor probably feels like they have no rights, they are just lucky to be recieving his services. Him and this male nurse need to be taken down a few notches. Just ranting!!

Rhiannon

[mshultz]

Originally Posted by Melina

As a girl, I really don't have the expertise to have an opinion, but would a man really want another man in the room during an exam 'for support'? It seems that the fewer witnesses to a prostate exam, the better. Any men have an opinion? Would you want another man (or woman, for that matter) in with you during your exam?

~Mel'

I do not have a history as a victim of abuse, and have never been concerned about inappropriate sexual contact from a healthcare worker (male or female). My concern around female healthcare workers is that I not do anything that might make them uncomfortable.

I received a digital rectal exam when I was in the ED in 2003 for a bad GI bleed. The male doctor was able to squeeze his hand between my thighs and under my genitals without me noticing until he touched my anus (No one warned me in advance). It did not matter to me that three female nurses were present.

I do have a problem with urinating in public, but I believe I would have been given privacy even if I had not told the Critical Care nurse I needed to be alone.

[58flyer]

Originally Posted by CEG

First off, I am 27 years old and have 2 children so I have had a lot of different people "down there" and have never been close to the experience I had with this man. First I was told that I had scheduled the exam at the wrong point in my cycle (I believe it was about 4 days before ovulation- cervix should have been pretty open). Then he began the exam without the standard "You'll feel me touch" which is a little disconcerting. At that point he realized there was no chaperone in the room, opened the door, yelled at someone to come in and we waited, me in stirrups, him sitting at my bottom end. The door opened again and a woman came in (I say woman and not nurse because I had no idea who she was). He proceded with the exam, pronounce my cervix "weird", muttered that he needed a large speculum, got it, put it in painfully, moved it around to visualize my (I have since learned) posterior cervix. That exam hurt worse than having membranes stripped, water broken, any pap I have ever had, etc (not worse than pushing out a 9 lb baby though ). I bled following this exam for quite a while and I was sore for several days.

My feeling is that this was a particulary unskilled provider- no one has ever had to fight to see my cervix or use a larger speculum. It was painful, degrading, and unnecessary. He was disrepectful to me. I am sure the only reason he had any patients was that he was a military provider and no one had any choice.

Using the word horrific was probably a little much, but this was not a good experience and has made me stressed for every exam I have had since then. I have never had a similar experience since. I always chose female providers and when I have risked having an on-call male doctor it worked out that I had a female midwife.

On a side note, a friend on mine had an on-call doc she didn't know for her son's birth. Each time he examined her he would throw back the sheets, check her cervix, say she would probably need a c-section, and leave with her butt out in the air and her trying to reach down to cover herself with the sheet. She found it quite degrading. A good teaching point for all providers, male or female.

CEG, thanks for posting that. A good example of how to NOT treat a patient. I cannot understand how anyone would want to subject a fellow human being to degrading and disrespectful treatment. I'm sure you didn't do anything to deserve it. All you did was give him your complete trust. Unfortunately there are some mean people in the world. Even though there may only be a few, they do a lot of harm for their small number. I know where you are coming from with the military provider and you not having a choice. It's also true in the civilian world when you deal with a public health agency. In my previous law enforcement career, our employment physicals were done at the health department. The guys were told to strip down to just underwear with no drapes or gowns provided. Of course when it got to the rectal exam, there you were with your skivvies around your knees, bent over the table, with absolutely nothing else to cover with. Talk about degrading! I was lucky enough to have a male doc, but I had to walk around him to shut the door to the room, he apparently didn't understand the concept of providing privacy. Several of my friends had to endure this exam at the hands of a female doc. The female officers were allowed to go to the OB doc of their choice, so at least they were spared. Since then, thanks to the police union, specific guidelines were devised telling the health dept precisely how the exams are to be conducted and with appropriate respect. In addition, candidates are allowed to choose their own doc at their own expense. Not all military docs are bad though. My current doc is ex-mil, and he is top notch.

CEG, may all your future care be done by compassionate professionals. Hugs to you......

[CEG]

[quote=58flyer]. Not all military docs are bad though. My current doc is ex-mil, and he is top notch.
quote]

ITA- The military midwife who caught my two babies was wonderful! Sorry to hear about your experience, the military entrance exam is similar. Best wishes to you.

[RNfromMS]

"Then he began the exam without the standard "You'll feel me touch" which is a little disconcerting."

We have a resident at our hospital that is a 2nd year as of the first of July. I don't know how he made it through his internship (they spend that first year in triage) because he was so rought with the patients during exam and would even check them without KY. I know that most of the nurses who chaperoned him during that year called him on it several times. I was with him today when he examined a laboring patient and he was completely different. I think it is very important for the nurses to express their opinion for inappropriate treatment like that.

We have also had words with the few residents who, when a patient being checked screamed or pulled away, would make comments to them like "I don't know how you got pregnant acting like that." I have not had one act like that in a while.

[hippienurse]

Originally Posted by HappyNurse2005

Heck in the OB office I used to go to, the female docs/NP's also had to have a nurse chaperone for the vag exams

Where I go that is the same, the is always a second person to observe so that both are protected.

[LauraLou]

At my hospital, it doesn't matter if the doctor is male or female, a female nurse must be present when a pelvic exam is present. That protects both the pts and the doctor.

I personally once had a male doctor who performed a pelvic exam without his MA or nurse present. He didn't do anything improper but I felt very uncomfortable and vulnerable. I didn't realize I would feel that way before he started, so I didn't think to ask for a chaperone.