Male Patient Modesty Question

[tmaloney58]

My Experience:

I recently had a not so awesome experience regarding male patient modesty in a local hospital. It involved a trip to the ED, subsequent admission to the floor and emergency surgery with a week stay afterwards.

My Question:

Is it the general attitude of nurses in general (ED, OR, PACU, recovery, etc.) that patient modesty only matters when it is a female patient and that guys either don't care about that or that it just doesn't matter when it's a guy or did I just have a one-off bad experience?

My Request:

Yeah, it does matter! Guys might not say it, or feel uncomfortable saying it, probably out of fear of being ridiculed, or being the topic of discussion, in the break room but yeah, male patients do care about it. So I guess my request is the next time you leave a male patient uncovered for an extended period of time where everybody coming in and out of the area (not involved in their care) can see them, come into their room and just pull the covers off of them and lift up their gown and start doing stuff to them, etc. etc. maybe you take a minute and think about whether you would do the same thing to a female patient. Pretty sure I wouldn't of had the same experience if I were a female patient. And yeah; I know you're a professional, that you've seen/done it a thousand times and that checking out my "junk" isn't of any interest to you, however, I'm not a nursing professional, haven't had it done to me a thousand times and would prefer that my "junk" stay covered when you're doing something that requires it to be exposed to anybody in the area (not related to my care)!!!

Just saying...

[tmaloney58]

A retort to every point. Must have been the shift's joy for the day.

Much like you have a retort to every point? In any case, to quote Edward Gibbon:

"I never make the mistake of arguing with people for whose opinions I have no respect."

That being said... I have nothing further to argue with you.

[MikeyT-c-IV]

Wow! I'm not sure what just happened in this post! I can tell you that coming to a forum full of nurses isn't the right place to voice your dissatisfaction with the care of a few at one facility. To be honest this seems like a trolling thread. I usually don't bite on these things, but grow up man. If you have an issue with the care you received then take it up with that facility. It's pointless to come on to this forum to chew on our meat.

And seriously?!? I doubt any nurse friend of yours advised you to come to this forum to inquire what is the standard of care in regard to modesty between male and female patients. This is just too far out to be real. I would expect a person of your professional status to understand the proper avenues to voice your concerns. This is ridiculous.

[nursel56]

Your question was asking if it's OK for nurses to have differing standards of dignity or modesty based on gender. I would hope nobody would answer "yes" to that question, but you proceeded as if they had, and recounted your personal experiences, which sounds very traumatizing. A couple of things you mentioned should be addressed.

Perhaps your friend would be willing to accompany you to a meeting as a designated support person. I say this because these things are unusual, and if you were so upset after your discharge you had an emotional reaction in your car it really shouldn't be ignored.

You spoke to multiple people about your extended time uncovered when there was no medical reason to do so, and instead of covering you, they said "I'm a professional, I've seen/done it a thousand times and checking out your "junk" isn't of interest to me" which in fact is very unprofessional.

Their attitude has given you the impression the nurses may be discussing you in the break room. That is unprofessional and most likely a HIPAA violation.

[OCNRN63, RN]

I wouldn't consider asking a caregiver to cover me up after I had been exposed for over a half an hour after assessments had been done while multiple people (not related to my care) wandered in and out of the area I was in to be a "there, there now attention seeking behavior". It seemed like a simple request. And one that I had to make multiple times in multiple locations. Maybe that's the "there, there now attention seeking behavior" you are referring to? Having to make the same request multiple times? Because my, I thought simple, request wasn't being honored? And because of my condition at the time I was unable to do it myself? Unfortunately, I received the same dismissive behavior/attitude from my "caregivers" there as you seem to display. That's makes me kind of sad. For you.

I'm guessing, actually I know, that you've been doing your job for a very long time. Maybe too long. Because when you forget the "care" part of "patient care" maybe it's time to find a different career.

You really know nothing about the people who have replied to you.

The purpose of this site is for nurses to talk to nurses. We learn from one another. We support each other. We laugh together, we cry together. The point is, this is a nursing community, not a site for the general public to ask for information nor to lecture us on how we should provide better care for our patients. People who aren't nurses do join sometimes to vent their spleens about one issue or another. We listen and provide feedback, but please...don't presume to know any of the people, many who have been here for years, after just a few posts.

[allnurses Admin Team]

OP, we realize that you experienced something that greatly concerns you, but you need to log a formal complaint with the healthcare entity by going through a legitimate process.

All of us wish you well.

Thread closed.