Infant Circumcision in Nursing school

fromtheseaRN, BSN, RN · Jan 4, 2011

i am about to start third semester, which is ob/peds for me. i have thought about this same thing, as personally it is not something i would do. not really sure if we will be exposed to this or not.

however, as a parent, i absolutely detest when someone judges my parenting choices because theirs differ. so, that's that. i will do my job as a nursing student and not judge the parents choice.

if you feel you cannot be involved, i am sure you could avoid the situation somehow, or ask to be excused during it due to personal beliefs. how well that discussion goes over will all depend on your instructors.

asp40 · Jan 4, 2011

The most you would have to do it hold the baby down or get supplies. Honestly, you likely might not even see one. I almost did but the doctor was late and we had to leave. It is a fast procedure and sometimes you need to set your own feelings aside.

AmberLB · Jan 4, 2011

@asp40, I know I have to set my feelings aside at times, but I really don't think I could hold/strap a baby down to a table to be circumcised. I mean, I understand I have to set my feelings aside at times, but this wouldn't be a passive act. I would be forcing someone down who can't understand or consent to chop off a functioning organ. It's just one of those things I'm thinking I'm not going to be able to set my feelings aside for. I remember my instructors saying that sometimes you have to set your feelings aside and do your job, but if you know it's not something you will be able to handle, sometimes you have to excuse yourself from the situation. I'm hoping they will be understanding that I just can't be a part of that procedure.

Boog'sCRRN246, RN · Jan 4, 2011

It was optional in my program. If we were in the nursery that day and one happened to be going on, we were invited to observe, but it wasn't required.

anonymousstudent · Jan 4, 2011

I am morally opposed to this,

But YOU are not what matters, are you now? This practice is not illegal. If it comes down to morals, we all differ. This practice in particular is touchy because there are several major religions that routinely practice circumcision.

OB-nurse2013, BSN, RN · Jan 4, 2011

I feel for you but it does not hurt the baby and you have to realize as a nurse there will be many situations where you are going to have to hold or restrain a patient. Good Luck and hopefully you will not have to participate in one.

Just curious though...You stated that you want to become a lactation consultant and I am a big breastfeeding advocate and didn't know if you have to be an RN to become one.

AmberLB · Jan 4, 2011

I feel for you but it does not hurt the baby and you have to realize as a nurse there will be many situations where you are going to have to hold or restrain a patient. Good Luck and hopefully you will not have to participate in one.
Just curious though...You stated that you want to become a lactation consultant and I am a big breastfeeding advocate and didn't know if you have to be an RN to become one.

I beg to differ on circumcision hurting the babies. There is plenty of doctors who will tell you newborns can feel pain. A quote from Dr. Sears "

Yes, it hurts. The skin of the member of a newborn baby has pain receptors completely sensitive to clamping and cutting. The myth that newborns do not feel pain came from the observation that newborns sometimes withdraw into a deep sleep toward the end of the operation. This does not mean that they do not feel pain. Falling into a deep sleep is a retreat mechanism, a withdrawal reaction as a consequence of overwhelming pain. Not only does circumcision cause pain in the member, the newborns over all physiology is upset. New research shows that during unanaesthetized circumcision, stress hormones rise, the heart rate speeds, and valuable blood oxygen diminishes. Babies should never be subjected to the shock of unanaesthetized circumcision. "

And I understand sometimes you have to hold patients down, but usually it's for their own good. Routine infant circumcisions are purely cosmetic, and remove a functioning organ that has a purpose.

And no, you don't have to be an RN to become a IBCLC but it makes it easier to find a job as one.

That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Jan 4, 2011

Dont turn this into a debate about whether it hurts or not, that it serves a purpose, whatever.

If you for any reason feel that you are uncomfortable with something that is going on, speak up, say something about it and asked to be removed from the situation. Dont go into a tirade about why you are against it, politely say why you want to be removed and leave it at that.

SwampCat, BSN · Jan 4, 2011

There is no way I would do anything to even help prepare a male infant to have his prepuce amputated with out his consent much the same way I wouldn't do it for a female. Female circ was legal up until the 60's or 70's I believe, and hopefully the MGM bill will make male circ illegal too. I'm such an intactivist I embarrass my husband all the time at family gatherings. Our son was the first one to be left the way nature intended. Good luck OP. This is one of those things that just makes me sick to my stomach and if I have to attend one/be part of one/whatever in nursing school, I am fully prepared to kiss nursing goodbye.

dudette10, MSN, RN · Jan 4, 2011

..as I am becoming an RN on my way to become a lactation consultant, and this is my area of interest. One thing I am very concerned about, though, is that I will possibly be involved in the practice of infant circumcision. I am morally opposed to this, and I don't think I can be involved in such a thing.

Here's the rub. You want to be an OB nurse. On my rotation, the nurses were cross-trained to two of three areas--PP, L&D, or nursery. The circ supplies and table were prepped by the nursery nurses, and the circ was performed there.

As a PP nurse, you will be required to provide circ care and parent teaching. You will also probably get the baby ready for transfer to the nursery.

If you want to be an OB nurse, you probably won't be able to avoid some type of involvement in the circ. What are you going to do then?

ETA: I know you want to be a lactation consultant, but unless you can get your certification (many, many hours of training and a periodic examination/reexamination), you'll probably have to be an OB nurse first.

As for clinicals, if you're truly against it, you can talk to your CI if the observation is required...but be prepared for the consequences.

CBsMommy · Jan 4, 2011

I had a person in my clinical group that was opposed to circs' as well and she was not made to participate. They usually will do it in a little room off the nursery and not directly in the nursery. If you choose not to participate, don't, but I would probably tell your CI in the beginning that you wish not to participate.

On kind of the same subject, I had the opportunity to participate in the postmortem care of an infant in the NICU and I refused because I know that I would have been an emotional wreck and that is not the area I'm going to end up working in. I didn't get in trouble or "looked down upon" from my clinical instructor.

We have to know what we will work with and what we won't. If you don't want to be involved in a circ, just politely refuse. I WOULDN'T explain it to the staff or the doctor, just simply say no thank you.

Good luck!