Pervy patients?

Nursing Students CNA/MA

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Specializes in ICU.

I work in a nursing home, and am no stranger to inappropriate comments. I'm always straightforward with my residents and let them know that their comment was inappropriate and not appreciated.

But. Today one of my male residents asked me point blank if my chest was all natural or fake, which really ****** me off. I told him I wasn't answering that question because it was none of his business. To which he responded, well you didn't answer my question: fake or natural? At this point I snapped that the question was inappropriate and finished his cares in silence.

How do you deal with inappropriate/Pervy patients or residents? I feel bad that I lost my temper and snapped at him, but he wouldn't leave it alone.

I do know that one important thing was to document the behavior, and I failed to do so. Other than that, things I could have done differently?

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Three of the male residents at the facility I work for will get turned on when being cared for by a few of the more "busty" ladies. One of them will ask for stimulation while another will ask for specific sexual favors. The girls ignore them and go on doing what they were doing. They are neighter patronizing nor demeaning towards the residents. However, on a few occasions, I have been asked to care for these patients because of the inappropriateness of their behavior.

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You need to report this to your nurse and write out an incident report.

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There is one resident where I work who makes very raunchy comments such as "I'd like to ******* " "I'd be good for you, you're not too young either," etc. He also says "I love you honey" to everyone 10 times in 5 minutes. The nurses know about it but there's only so much to do about it. I just ignore it and get out of the room as fast as I can without neglecting.

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Wow!!!!!

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Specializes in Geriatrics.
There is one resident where I work who makes very raunchy comments such as "I'd like to ****** "I'd be good for you, you're not too young either," etc. He also says "I love you honey" to everyone 10 times in 5 minutes. The nurses know about it but there's only so much to do about it. I just ignore it and get out of the room as fast as I can without neglecting.

Just out of curiosity, is this patient demented? If he's suffering from Alzheimer's/dementia that may be the reason behind it. If not, that's pretty awful :/

I'm supposed to start CNA classes soon and I admit this is kind of a fear of mine. Honestly, I don't think comments alone would bother me that much, I could handle that, but I am more afraid of inappropriate touching, or being forced into something. That would make me really uncomfortable.

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Yes, I believe he is suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's, which makes it easier to deal with. Although apparently he has an interesting family history if you know what I mean. The last time he was saying that stuff to me I couldn't help but laugh, to which his response was "Is that a no, honey?" No use in getting mad at any resident in his mental state. He did make a new CNA cry before though.

I don't think you need to be too worried about residents inappropriate touching or being forced into anything sexually, if that's what you meant, especially if you were to work in a nursing home.

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Specializes in CMSRN, hospice.

I agree that it doesn't help to get mad. I would just brush it off with an, "Oh, that's not really important. Are you ready to eat your breakfast?" or whatever. If distraction doesn't work, that's the point at which I would be more assertive, as you were. If he didn't take the hint at that point, I probably wouldn't talk back to him or anything, but there would definitely be some one-word answers and awkward silences involved for the remainder of the shift. And yes, telling the charge nurse and/or writing an incident report is a must.

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I do know that one important thing was to document the behavior, and I failed to do so. Other than that, things I could have done differently?

Always report these things.

As we all know: if you didn't document it, it didn't happen.

Every time this resident's behaviors are reported and documented, actually gives the facility more of the ammunition they need to do something about the behavior.

No one can fix a problem they don't know about.

Also, when I am working with patients who are inappropriate (psych nurse, here!) I make sure that I respond in the least dramatic manner-- which means I keep my voice firm and display no real emotion.

I stay very much on the point, say what I have to say, make sure my patient is safe, turn on my heel and leave.

I do not preach nor argue.

Much of the excitement these patients receive from their comments is actually derived from the extreme discomfort that these comments cause others.

Some people are twisted like that.

Don't feed the beast!

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Specializes in being a Credible Source.
I work in a nursing home, and am no stranger to inappropriate comments. I'm always straightforward with my residents and let them know that their comment was inappropriate and not appreciated.

But. Today one of my male residents asked me point blank if my chest was all natural or fake, which really ****** me off. I told him I wasn't answering that question because it was none of his business. To which he responded, well you didn't answer my question: fake or natural? At this point I snapped that the question was inappropriate and finished his cares in silence.

How do you deal with inappropriate/Pervy patients or residents? I feel bad that I lost my temper and snapped at him, but he wouldn't leave it alone.

I do know that one important thing was to document the behavior, and I failed to do so. Other than that, things I could have done differently?

Being a dude gives me a different perspective but here are some things that I've observed and participated in:

1) Ignore the inappropriate comments. I see this a lot from the gals I work with.

2) Report the incident to unit leadership for a direct confrontation... include the terms "sexual harrassment" to really stir up the pot.

3) Switch assignments with a guy... I've been down that road a number of times... "sorry man, you brought this on yourself."

4) Have the physician and the lead nurse directly confront the patient.

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I can't count how many times I've had to deal with this ( CNA Here just in case anyone hasn't seen me post before )

The others are right, be firm but professional. Report it ASAP as well :)

Funny story:

I had a male Resident with an amputated arm. He was a "grabber", as well as raunchy comments all the time.

I'd just ignore the comments, and eww one day I had to give this guy a shower.

He thought me giving him a shower meant "we" were taking a shower together. ::blegh:: No buddy, never gonna happen.

So I figured out that that if I gave him care, and passed trays on the side that was amputated, he had to take more time to reach over the opposite side of the bed to try to grab me, giving me more time to scoot out of the way :)

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Specializes in LTC.

I usually just move their hands to their own chest and say, "THESE are yours. Play with your own."

A few times I have said in the deepest voice I can, "I used to be a man." That throws them for a loop.

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