Pubic hair

Nurses General Nursing

Published

My female patient wants me to shave her pubic hair, she cant do it herself she only has limited movement of one arm . Should I do it? (I would rather not) any advice? Update-this is a LTC Vent patient who is not going home. Believe it or not this isn't the first patient that asked me to do this I had another patient with ALS ask me to trim hers with an electric razor because she said the hair gets caught in her underwear and pulls. I had got "pulled" to her unit and she asked me to do it -had her own electric razor-so me like a fool assuming the nurses were doing it for her went ahead and did it then i found out that only a few people would do it for her. What do I look like? the personal pube trimmer? also she was a real pain in the butt about how it was trimmed, I dont want to relive that nightmare!

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I'd say thats not in my job description!:roll

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho.

Nope,, tell her she will have to wait for discharge and find a good salon that will do waxing. Not in the job description.

I had a patient (18) that was trying to refuse to leave after discharge until someone shaved her legs for her. Not gonna happen hun. Get your mommy to do it for you.

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Specializes in Geriatrics/Oncology/Psych/College Health.

What an unusual request.

The best response, IMO, is that this is a task best managed after discharge.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

That's simply too personal a job for a nurse to perform on a pt. Think about it this way, no matter the sexes involved (female/female), that could be interpreted as an overt sexual act.

Try to imagine EXPLAINING that to your supervisor after a complaint is made. And people complain about weird things. She may decide she doesn't LIKE it. She may decide that you nicked her too many times. Shoot, she may decide that you LIKED it too much. Whatever, that's not something I would want to explain to management.

If that's not enough to cause you to reconsider and reaffirm something you already have a desire NOT to do; nothing will. At a minimum, I'd run it by my manager first. If you don't think you could explain that to your manager BEFORE the fact; imagine doing so AFTER the fact.

And besides, I'll tell you right now; your manager won't approve.

~faith,

Timothy.

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Specializes in LTC, Hospice, Case Management.

Weird, just weird

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Specializes in Ante-Intra-Postpartum, Post Gyne.

Give her a bottle of "Nair" for pubic hair, it only takes one hand to rub on and one to rinse off....:clown:

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Yikes....

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Specializes in Corrections, neurology, dialysis.

Shaving pubic hair is more a part of grooming nowadays than it was when I was young. I am 45 and have 2 daughters, one in her teens, the other in her 20s, and they both regularly shave "down there". I don't think this person had anything untoward in mind. I think it is a part of her regular grooming and she probably feels uncomfortable that she hasn't been able to shave in a while.

That being said, I don't think it is the nurse's responsibility to take care of this, any more than it would be to pluck her eyebrows or shave her legs. It's not considered part of regular grooming like bathing or washing one's hair, and it is something she should take responsibility for. I think it's okay to gently let her know that her request is outside the scope of what you would consider regular patient care, and that it is something she can attend to when she gets home. You could also suggest that if she can't do it herself, there are lots of salons around who will take care of it for her. She can ask for a Brazilian wax and they'll know how to take care of it. Here is some more information on it. http://ezinearticles.com/?Brazilian-Waxing---Is-It-For-You?&id=83

I would recommend maintaining the patient's dignity around the issue. As I said, this is a very common thing with young women nowadays and I don't think she meant anything weird by it.

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
Give her a bottle of "Nair" for pubic hair, it only takes one hand to rub on and one to rinse off....:clown:

The directions do not recommend this (direct quote from the bottle: "Do not use on breast nipples, perineal or lady partsl/genital areas".)

A nice way for a pt. to get a chemical burn.

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

And as for what i would do for the pt., unless the shaving is medically necessary, i would decline as well.

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Specializes in CCU,ED, Hospice.

"Uuumm, well let's see... Nope, not today. Sorry!" :coollook:

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