Who can be a chaperone?

[The Knife & Gun Club]

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Hi guys,

So I’m on surgery today and my resident asked me to do a DRE on a kid complaining of constipation. No big deal, I’ve done these before, but always with a resident or attending present.

I asked for a chaperone since patient was a kid, and they sent the observer (an MD from Portugal trying to match in the US, in a university sanctioned program) with me. It went fine, mom was there and knows me since I’ve been following the kid. But the situation got me thinking...who can/cannot be considered an acceptable chaperone for these kind of exams?

FYI I’m a guy and so was the observer, the pt was female.

 

[getdown]

The ideal chaperone would be an biased nurse or other medical provider of the same sex as the patient. This protects you as any complaint from the patient can be negated by the chaperone without any perception of bias. You wouldn't necessarily want the patient's family member as they could screw you by saying they did/did not see something.

 

[OneTwoThreeFour]

Hi guys,

So I’m on surgery today and my resident asked me to do a DRE on a kid complaining of constipation. No big deal, I’ve done these before, but always with a resident or attending present.

I asked for a chaperone since patient was a kid, and they sent the observer (an MD from Portugal trying to match in the US, in a university sanctioned program) with me. It went fine, mom was there and knows me since I’ve been following the kid. But the situation got me thinking...who can/cannot be considered an acceptable chaperone for these kind of exams?

FYI I’m a guy and so was the observer, the pt was female.

This is an institutional question rather than a legal one.

 

[evilbooyaa]

Sensitive exams on patients of the opposite gender (speaking as a male) always get a chaperone of that patient's gender if at all possible. Idk if it's different for a rectal, but I would never do a pelvic or breast exam on a female without a female chaperone in the room.

 

[Donald Juan]

I always want a female nurse in the room for a pelvic exam or anything sensitive with a female patient. As far as the particular situation in the OP, I think that having a male observer in the room for a med student to do a sensitive exam on a pediatric female patient is not the right move. If I was personally supervising a med student to do a sensitive exam like that I would still want a female nurse in the room.

 

[doc05]

Ask a nurse. Not a temporary outside observer.

 

[dpmd]

There is no legal rule. There may or may not be an institutional policy. As a female I never really worry about it but I suppose I could potentially have a complaint filed against me at any time. For guys it is probably safest to have a female when doing genital exams on females, but hopefully for the average non mentally ill patient just making sure you remain professional and let the patient know what you are doing in advance you will be fine with whoever as a chaperone.

 

[eatkalteenbars]

As a female med student I’ve been asked to chaperone male attendings/residents/midlevels during female pelvic exams. Sometimes they get a little unsure about whether or not a student can officially serve as a chaperone so they have me find a female nurse to be in the room. Seems like it’s an institutional issue and there’s been inconsistency even within institutions. Just seems to depend on how medicolegally conservative the person I’m chaperoning is.

 

[deleted245139]

I ask the sex of the person the pt prefers and document it. Way easier than assuming someone wants one over the other. I'm in a large facility though so it's easy for me to do, not so in smaller places