Sex in the workplace.....what do YOU think should be done?

Nurses Relations

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Recently, at our small community hospital, the only hospitalist on the 7p-7a shift wasn't answering his pager when a CCU nurse was looking for him about a patient. After several attempts to reach him, she went looking for him, thinking he might be sleeping(that's allowed) Upon hearing voices behind the sleep room door, she summoned the Nsg supervisor, who found the door to be locked. She in turn got a maintenance man to unlock the door. Behind the door, she found quite a sight. The hospitalist and an off duty nurse. She was naked, he scrambling for his clothes. Both are married--not to each other.

She was given a mere 2 days suspension. He works for a physicians group that staffs hospitals, and we have not seen him since.

She has worked for the hospital for many years. What do YOU think should happen to her?

Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
and i still say the three stooges are the ones that really ought to be reprimanded.

​like someone else said, maybe we need annual competency training and testing on how to knock on a door.

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

The nurse was off duty. Unless policy says that anyone off the clock absolutely must leave the premises, what she was doing on her own time is none of the hospital's business. They aren't the morality police. That's between her and her higher power if she has one.

As for the doctor, did he violate any policies? I come from a hospital where the only call docs in house are the first call trauma surgeon and the first call anesthesiologist; everyone else can be wherever doing whatever (or whoever) as long as they are able to get to the hospital within the defined guidelines (possibly the same thirty minutes we have?). If he's allowed to sleep when not out on the floors working, then that's his own time to do anything else with as well. The concerning part is not returning multiple pages.

However, I also don't think that what the CCU nurse, nurse supervisor, and maintenance person did was right either. It sounds like there was almost no attempt to get the people in the call room to open the door before involving everyone else. Makes me think, provided what the OP posted is true and not embellished/details changed by passage through the gossip grapevine, that the CCU nurse had some other motive in mind.

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Specializes in FNP, ONP.
It sounds like there was almost no attempt to get the people in the call room to open the door before involving everyone else. Makes me think, provided what the OP posted is true and not embellished/details changed by passage through the gossip grapevine, that the CCU nurse had some other motive in mind.

I agree completely.

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Specializes in MDS RNAC, LTC, Psych, LTAC.

My question sexual frustration or not is who on earth would want to go to their workplace off duty or not and have sex..? he was wrong and so was she and she should have been fired as well.. we nurses are supposed to have ethical and moral character. I mean I like sex as well as anyone but by Gosh why at work. Haven't they heard of off duty and Motel 6 ? :p

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Specializes in ER.

I just want to know where I should work so I have time for sex. I don't usually have time to eat, I sure don't have time for sex! I guess I need to change jobs :)

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Specializes in Trauma Surgical ICU.

From the title I thought you were gonna talk about pts having sex. in that case; send them home.. If they are well enough to have sex, they are well enough to go home.

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Specializes in MDS RNAC, LTC, Psych, LTAC.

Me too Dixie Lee.. me too... lol...

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Specializes in Oncology.

I don't care what she does when she's off duty and he can spend his sleep time any way he wants but if he was paged he needed to pull up his pants and get himself ready to work.

Personally, though, ew. The hospital is so gross. Everywhere. Never lol.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Home Health.

All of this could've been avoided if the MD had returned his pages in a timely fashion. It probably wasn't the first time he has left the nurses hanging.

The nurse was off-duty, so I don't agree with suspending her. What she does on her own time should be her own business. That said, she showed very, very bad judgement. Why couldn't she and the MD get their freak on somewhere else?

I think an incident report is in order, along with a stern talking-to for the nurse; basically "Don't being your sex life to work, whether or not you're on the clock." The embarrassment, gossip, and damaged reputation should be punishment enough for the nurse. Let the MD's group deal with him.

If I was in the CCU nurse's shoes, I would've gotten the supervisor when I heard voices on the other side of the door, so I had a witness when the couple eventually came to the door. I had a non-nursing job where co-workers were sneaking off to have sex during their shift, leaving me to handle everything else by myself. I don't blame the CCU nurse one bit.

Long story short: don't poop where you eat.

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Specializes in Trauma, ER, ICU, CCU, PACU, GI, Cardiology, OR.

long story short: don't poop where you eat.

100% agree with your statement... it reenforces my previous post on this subject.

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Specializes in ER.

If he had been having sex with his wife, and she happened to be off duty, but employed by the hospital, would the situation be so shocking. Nope. So the shocking part is that they were both married. That my friends, is no-one's business. Discipline him for ignoring the pages, but who cares if he has an entire cheerleading team in there...MYOB is my motto.

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Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.

dang-I WISH I still had enough hormones in place to even WANT to do the nasty-at any time.

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