hello everyone! i hope that someone can point me in the right direction with this issue! i work at a small privatly owned healthcare company, in the operating room. one day 4 weeks ago while scrubed in on a GYN procedure, at the end while the doc was checking the patients vagina for bleeding (which there wasnt any) i noticed that he had his first and middle finger inserted all the way into her rectum. i was just horrified!! i wasnt sure what to think of it so i went on break to clear my mind and then told my nurse manager about what i saw. she in turn, told the director of surgical services and the answer was that the next time he was in the OR there was to be a manager in on the procedure observing him. i felt that was an ok thing to do since it would be better to have someone else seeing the same thing i saw. so he had been in once since then, the manager saw nothing fishy. i was out the day he was in. but then he was in last friday in which i scrubed in and there was a circulator nurse as well as my nurse manager. dont you know??? there he goes, he looked to his right then his left right into my eyes, turned back to the patient and inserted his two fingers, into her anus, then out and back in and out and back in, left them in his thumb was moving so i know so were his two fingers! i am discusted! it to me did not look like any kind of procedure! definatly did not look appropriate! i work with 5 other docs and never have i seen any of them do this! this time 3 of us saw it. they are going to comfront him and ask him why he was doing that?!?!?! i am sick about this and have not been back to work since. extremely upset seeing a therapist on medication. worried about him being told please stop doing that because it makes everyone uncomfortable, now get back to work. uuuuggghhhh!!! its not right! please....if anyone has experience in this area please help me!! oh and i am not being paid for this time i have to take off to take care of myself because i witnessed this act. the doc says im in emotional distress and it just takes time. but until then im not crazy i know what i saw and he cant get away with this!

You reported all the way up that you could, right? I'm not sure what your position is, or what your licensing requires, but it's possible that you also have a legal obligation to report this to the physician's licensing board. If you are a licensed nurse, I would contact your state nursing board for advice.

i am a surgical tech and am not a mandated reporter, i did what i should of done by going to my manager but im not comfortable whith how they are going to handle it. there are alot of layers to this and a small grey area ya know?? i am just so upset about this whole thing im not even sure i want to go back to work there, i am a moral person and cannot sit back and let him do that again.

Well, you have to make your own decision here. If you feel this is something you should report to the AMA (or state equivalent), then you do so. If you don't "feel comfortable" with how the employer may (or may not) handle whatever this situation is, that's really not a call either you can make (you don't know HOW they're going to "handle" it or even if they haven't "handled" it already). I don't know what else to tell you. :(

I do have to just offer one suggestion. If you witnessed a sexual assault, why would you not contact the police? I understand "politics". But politics does not negate the fact that if a criminal act has been committed (especially one of this nature) the authorities should still be involved, whether this doctor is reprimanded, suspended, or nothing.

(and if what you say happened, happened, it IS sexual assault)

Very disturbing. You have much to think about.

You should know that Massachusetts has one of the nation's strongest whistleblower protection laws for health care providers(http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/149-187.htm).

This specific law came about because of the courage of two nurses. The first, Barry Adams complained about staffing levels and inadequate care at a nursing home in Cambridge. The second, Cathleen Kyle complained about hazardous conditions in MGH's critical care unit. Both were fired in the 1990's , and now we have a law protecting health care employees from adverse employment actions resulting from their complaints.

Hopefully that will at least provide you with some comfort.

Phil

thanks for the input but the doc of course had an excuse for why he did it my nurse manager believes him and i do not. we saw what we saw and it was inapropriate behavior in my eyes. his reason was checking for bleeding......i knew he would say that. but the next question is, then why no lubricant??? why two fingers??? like i said before.....a fine line. theres really nothing i can do i guess. so i chose to walk away, i told them i was not returning to work. then they called me back to tell me they need it in writing and that i need to talk to human resources to go over my unused vaca and sick time to get that check to me. and still told me that hr didnt need to know, also said that my reference was good not to worry about another job. but what was i going to say about why i left??? they suggested i tell them the commute was too long i wanted something closer to home. its over now, im looking the other way since my boss believes him i have no one to back me on this! life goes on!!

Keep in mind I am not a doctor, but if this guy was making sure that 3 other people witnessed what he did, I'm seriously wondering if it was really improper. He knew you had reported it once and so it just doesn't make sense to do it again in front of others who could verify your story if there wasn't a reason for it. Added that at least one of the other medical professionals present verified that this was not improper and the fact that the management overall does not appear to be concerned and it looks like you may be overreacting. In any event, all you can do is report it. If you choose to seek employment elsewhere you certainly can, but I wouldn't lie about why you were doing it.

If you resign for ethical reasons or don't give a reason but tell other employers it is because of the commute, you could face problems when you get to the background check. If they get one story from you and another from your former employer (and yes it is legal for them to share this) that is a deal breaker.

he did not know that i saw him the first time nor did he know i reported it and my managers exect words to the second time were, i am just flabbergasted!! i cannot believe what im seeing!! i need to talk to my supervisor..... i did not over react, and he didnt know we saw what he was doing in fact he leaned in to try to hide it. and looked around before he did it. it doesnt matter now, im moving on... thanks to all for your replies!