Do your OBs do circs everyday?

Specialties Ob/Gyn

Published

Do they not do them on weekends or holidays?

Why don't you like assisting with circs?

What grounds do you have for refusing?

I do not like assissting with circs because I don't like to see babies strapped down to a board and had what is cosmetic surgery performed on them. Emla cream is great but doesn't take all the pain away. I refuse to do it because it hurts my soul to see it done and the providers don't like a crying nurse in the procedure.:o The facility I am at has a wonderfully supportive envirnoment and because I go above and beyond in other areas of work, it is a trade off that is acceptable to all involved. :)
Specializes in private duty/home health, med/surg.

I can see where you're coming from, RNDani, and I'm glad your facility supports you in your decision.

At the hospital I did clinicals at, the pediatrician performed the circs. The staff nurses were glad to hand the assist job over to the student nurses. We were required to assist with one plastibell & one Gomco clamp circ. However, we were given strict instructions that we do not let the parents know that there are 2 different methods of circumcision, because then the parents might think they have a choice. Most of the baby boys were circ'd at this hospital and I just don't think it was an informed choice on the parents part, if they didn't even know how a circumcision was performed.

Peds do the circs here and rarely are they NOT done before the baby leaves...

Specializes in NICU.
Why don't you like assisting with circs?

What grounds do you have for refusing?

Why does anyone need to assist with a circ? We have only one ped does them in-house, all he needs is to have the equipment out when he comes to do one.

Actually, there are not many circs done around here, usually those are in the peds office, and few peds do them.

Our OBs do our circs and they do them every morning usually before office hours. We have kindly asked them not to do them between 7 and 7:30 but there are a few who still do. As I work Night shift I don't usually have to assist with them but the few I did where fine. Most of our doctors use Lidocaine to numb so it is only the numbing shot that usally hurts.

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

I really hate assisting w/circs too. But I will do it, if I must. However, I think people having true objections to the pain/trauma involved in a cosmetic procedure on a non-consenting patient, have that right to do so.

so, I have no idea about circs........why the controversy? I thought it was a good thing? is it strictly cosmetic? do people not like it b/c it os painful? thanks for explaining!

Circs are cosmetic procedures, FutureSuperNurse. They are no longer recommended for medical reasons, it's simply a cultural practice. The only real benefits for circs are no possibility of foreskin infections. My answer to that is we could eliminate the possibility of cavities by pulling out all our teeth, but we don't:). I personally feel that I have no business telling a parent what they can do with their own child, but I don't want to participate in a painful, completely unecessary procedure that carries real risks on a patient too young to consent. I've seen a baby nearly bleed to death after a routine circ, and that cemented my views. I have never had a problem finding a coworker who was ok with them to assist.

Specializes in Telemetry & Obs.
http://www.cirp.org/library/procedure/plastibell/
Specializes in LTC/Behavioral/ Hospice.

I've seen this site before. It makes me cry. I had my first son circumcised. I thought it was for the best, but I was ignorant on the process and procedure. My second son is intact. I read in another post in this thread that student nurses are given this assignment. I just don't know if I could do it, though. It would break my heart. :o

Specializes in NICU.

In our NICU, urology actually comes up to do the circs! They visit us twice a week, and whoever has a circ consent signed gets the procedure done if he's close to going home and big enough for the instruments. If too small or his discharge is sprung upon us with no time for a circ, the pediatrician does it in the office later on. If the baby has an upcoming surgery for something else, we make every effort to get the baby circumsized in the OR while under full anesthesia.

When I was a student and saw a circ, they used EMLA cream on SOME patients, but not all, and only offered a pacifier if someone had time to hold it in. :crying2: Where I currently work, we give tylenol prior to the procedure, offer a sucrose pacifier, and the urologists use a nerve block. Then we give tylenol q6h PRN for 2 days. At least it's something!

Specializes in PERI OPERATIVE.

Our peds do most of our circs, though a few of our OBs are trained at the procedure. They always use a local anesthetic to numb the area. We live in an area were almost 100% of men have circumcisions. I believe that it is mainly a cosmetic procedure, however, I agree with it 100%. The reason? Kids are always teased about being different. I can only imagine what little boys might have to go through always being asked why their member looks different from everyone else's. Also, if they are intact and dad is circed, they might also have questions/problems with that. Another reason, it is soooo much more of a difficult, painful, and time-consuming procudure to get a circ done on an older boy/man.

Anyway, those are my two cents. Not looking to stir things up, just stating my opinion.

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