Sex in the workplace.....what do YOU think should be done?

Nurses Relations

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Recently, at our small community hospital, the only hospitalist on the 7p-7a shift wasn't answering his pager when a CCU nurse was looking for him about a patient. After several attempts to reach him, she went looking for him, thinking he might be sleeping(that's allowed) Upon hearing voices behind the sleep room door, she summoned the Nsg supervisor, who found the door to be locked. She in turn got a maintenance man to unlock the door. Behind the door, she found quite a sight. The hospitalist and an off duty nurse. She was naked, he scrambling for his clothes. Both are married--not to each other.

She was given a mere 2 days suspension. He works for a physicians group that staffs hospitals, and we have not seen him since.

She has worked for the hospital for many years. What do YOU think should happen to her?

Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.

sure... it's tacky - but they are consenting adults. One off duty - one a contracted (i'd assume) physician. The doc should answer his pages, and i am hoping that the manhunt only began after an acceptable amount of time, overhead paging, calling other floors, etc. if not then it sounds like CCU nurse knew what was up and was just trying to bust them, which is tacky in it's own regard.

Specializes in FNP, ONP.

Oh come on kids. It's just sex. Who cares really. I agree with ther person who suggested the OP doesn't have all the facts, because it is just too lame and stupid to think any allegedly intelligent person would do that, or that the maintainence man would even agree to it! Between the three of them, I'd think at least he would have a lick of sense, lol. I also expect that they would have heard them working on the door. The tale just doesn't ring true. Unless they were being sneaky and wanted to catch them, in which case It hink those three ought to get fired. The lucky couple gets a high five from me too. Good for them.

Newsflash: I have sex when I'm on call, and guess what, they have to wait until I'm finished before I return the call. They also have to suck it up and wait if I decide to eat a meal, take a shower or use the toilet. Pretty much the only time I'll return a call or page immediately is if I was sleeping, and that's only because I wasn't busy doing something else, lol.

but I do care that this is a safety issue. The MD was on call and didn't answer the page. They locked themselves into a room - what if somebody needed to get into that room for patient care purposes and could not?

From the orriginal post....

After several attempts to reach him, she went looking for him, thinking he might be sleeping(that's allowed) Upon hearing voices behind the sleep room door

It was a sleep room, not a PTs room.

And as for him not answering the page.... then why do they have policy in place that allows them to sleep? instead of "getting to know" that nurse, he could have just as easily been a deep sleeper.

I would have went and gotten another staff member as witness to what I thought I was hearing behind the closed door; THEN banged on the door loudly and said, "I, nor anyone else on staff is getting any right now, and you're not either (*or something else just as pithy.) Get the hell out here and do what you are supposed to be doing, NOW." And...if I got an armageddon of excuses or crap from them, then I would go report it.

Immoral yes. But the only judgement call which belongs to the person who 'caught' them should be the immediate repercussions of how the situation pertains to the immediate needs of the staff/patients etc. I would expect management to make discipline decisions...and then the staff member who had to put up with the crap could go have a coffee at Starbucks after her shift, and use her moral compass to complain about the low morals to a friend, hopefully who is like-minded.

Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.
Oh come on kids. It's just sex. Who cares really. I agree with ther person who suggested the OP doesn't have all the facts, because it is just too lame and stupid to think any allegedly intelligent person would do that, or that the maintainence man would even agree to it! Between the three of them, I'd think at least he would have a lick of sense, lol. I also expect that they would have heard them working on the door. The tale just doesn't ring true. Unless they were being sneaky and wanted to catch them, in which case It hink those three ought to get fired. The lucky couple gets a high five from me too. Good for them.

Newsflash: I have sex when I'm on call, and guess what, they have to wait until I'm finished before I return the call. They also have to suck it up and wait if I decide to eat a meal, take a shower or use the toilet. Pretty much the only time I'll return a call or page immediately is if I was sleeping, and that's only because I wasn't busy doing something else, lol.

And you just proved my point.

What I don't get is that it was the sleeping room...

The door was locked...

Noises were heard...

And they bust in?

Would you do that in a toilet?

You have the same thing.

The door is locked and noises are heard.

What?

You're going to break down the stall door on somebody?

What if they're masturbating in there?

Now you can get them in trouble for masturbating at work?

I have a great distaste for adultery but I'm no judge either.

Some are so quick to want to fire people.

I think the story is hokey, anyway.

Not saying the OP made it up, but maybe the story got twisted a bit before it got to the OP's ears.

The door thing doesn't make sense.

Yeah, I thought of that, too. Sheesh the noises could have been him taking care of some very private business.

Specializes in OR, CVOR, Clinical Education, Informatic.

The entire staff of the hospital should obviously have mandatory education provided on how to knock on a door. Of course someone will have to develop a policy on how loud the knock should be and the duration and frequency of the knocking. This will probably require an extensive search of literature to provide evidence for best practice. Additionally, a study should be drafted as to determine which nursing theory is the most effective model to follow.

A suitable consequence should be determined for failure to knock on a closed door, with progressive action for repeated failure to knock. The terms "Knock" and "Closed door" should be clearly defined to enable everyone to follow policy appropriately and avoid misinterpretation of the Knocking On A Closed Door policy. Policy should include proper documentation of knocking or the reason that the knock was not performed.

Understanding of the policy will be verified through testing and return demonstration. Repeat testing will be allowed for the first failed attempt, and a transcript placed in each staff member's file. Understanding should be validated on a yearly basis.

Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

From a professional standpoint, not the smartest decision either one of them made. When it comes to love--or lust--common sense is usually the first thing to go out the window...as we've just seen in the OP's story.

I think the short suspension was fair. No, she didn't abandon patients but what she (and he) was doing there was unprofessional behavior.

Though to be honest, both of their reputations at that hospital are now shot to hell. And if they continue to work there, they're going to have to deal with the fallout: the stories, the gossip, the roadblocks to their career. They'd both probably be better off starting to hunt for new jobs.

From a personal standpoint, I don't know what was going on in either of their marriages so I'm not going to condemn or condone. If I'm not involved in the relationship, it's not my place to judge.

I think her embarassment and the gossip will be punishment enough. Seriously, I guess it depends on the facility policy; many have rules about fraternization, don't they?

Hospital policy aside, it shows terrible judgement on both sides. Lives oculd have been lost. Termination does not seem too harsh to me.

Specializes in ICU / PCU / Telemetry / Oncology.

Fire her. Her presence in the hospital (by keeping the hospitalist away from his primary duties) indirectly affected patient care. Also, there are many unemployed nurses out there that would be more than happy to take her job and take it more seriously.

Gosh, these crazy kids ...

I suppose the suspension for 2 days was appropriate. I guess I'd just "counsel" the nurse and tell her to try to be more discreet next time -- as in choose an off-site location. It did show poor judgement, but I understand how things can get uh, well, "heated."

We had a nurse on our unit who was having some fling with one of our hospitalists, and I think they were caught at one time. Both of them still there, though ...and she was constantly talking to me about him, "on high alert" anytime he was around ...it was actually sort of comical and definitely made the day go by faster.

I worry more about the doc cheating on his poor wife in this situation, and the effect it must be having on his marriage and family... I'd NEVER marry a physician.

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