Cyclone-ISU said...
You illuminated a salient point in your post just above, 81GyGuy ...
At my treatment center, if a physical examination is required by the doctor, all patients are asked if they would like an extra medical attendant to be present in the room ---- while being examined by the doctor.
You referenced the aspect of culture and religion ...
To that point, one of my long-time doctors is originally from Kenya.
When a physical examination will be needed for a female patient, he then ALWAYS brings along a female nurse for the exam, due to cultural reasons and personal convictions and sense of propriety ---- that stems from his cultural beliefs.
He is a tremendous doctor and humanitarian. I am fortunate that he has been one of my doctors through the years ...
As the years have gone by, I have also noticed that my treatment center has achieved a greater balance in male and female doctors --- as well as chemotherapy nurses, physician's assistants, and lab & radiation technicians.
Outstanding staff --- caring and compassionate!
Reflections and experiences to share ~~~
CYCLONE --- # Iowa State University
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(EDIT: I have no idea why my response is in bold, and don't know how to change it so it isn't)
Good post, Cyclone! Re: "When a physical examination will be needed for a female patient, he then ALWAYS brings along a female nurse for the exam, due to cultural reasons and personal convictions and sense of propriety ---- that stems from his cultural beliefs. ", I dare say there are also other reasons, reasons that apply to all male docs of all backgrounds: legal liability. In my experience in my health care career, there were few physicians who would dare to examine a female patient without having another female present as a witness. This was primarily to guard against accusations of misconduct. All it takes is one woman out of thousands to one day make the accusation, and, guilty or not guilty, your career can be over.
I remember this causing some problems when I first became an RN in 1975, and as more and more male RNs were coming to exist. I was still a new nurse and had moved to Colorado working in an emergency room there. I had already noticed, even before graduation, that male RNs were highly valued in ERs and Psych units, because they did not need as many male orderlies and such on hand to deal with rambunctious or combative male patients. A male RN could serve dual purpose, for the same pay as 1 RN. So we were highly recruited in such areas. But, in that CO ER, a new problem arose: if a male doc needed a female RN present while he examined a female, what if one of us males were the only ones available? This was happening more and more as more male RNs were in the work force. So it was decided that the male RNs would help the male docs when they examined female patients. But the first time I did that, I immediately felt quite anxious. Because how can 1 male(or 10 for that matter) be a witness for a male doc against the accusations of a female patient? I don't think they can. People will just as readily believe that a group of males is lying about
a sexual assault on a female as they will that 1 male is lying. It was shortly after this that I went off to anesthesia school and left regular nursing, plus I have been retired for some years, so I'm not sure how all of this is being handled today, with more and more men going into nursing.
On the other side of the equation, female nurses (or, I suppose, female doctors) have always given males baths, or put in Foley catheters, etc, with the assumption that no witnesses were needed. It was always assumed that if anything improper happened, it would be the male patient who was the instigator and to blame. But I often wonder how that still works in today's crazy, upside down world? We live in a world now of groups's of ladies going to male strip clubs or having the male strippers come in for birthday or bachelorette (sp?) parties. And ever increasing reports of usually nice looking, usually married, female teachers getting busted for having sex with a 14 year old male student in the parking lot. Or even in the classroom. I even recall one news item where a female health care worker(might have been more than one involved) got into trouble for photographing an unconscious and exposed male patient and sharing it with her girlfriends on the internet. So, in our modern world, females can not be assumed to never have impure sexual motives or to never commit the improper actions which it has always been assumed that only males would commit. But even so, does that in any way change the concept that females can perform very intimate procedures on males with no witness ever needed? I do not know, I assume nothing has changed in that regard, yet. If it does change, I can't imagine how much it will change or increase staffing requirements, with a certain ratio of males and females required to be present, to serve as witnesses for the opposite sex.