LOL, but if you've never worked with pregnant females, then this might an unexpected occurence. If you work in an LTC or psych facility, the patients always have the right to engage in sexual activity, and since it's their home, noboby thinks twice about it. Sounds like this nurse has some "issues" of her own.

Even though a lot of us are lax about it, we should always knock before entering any room. Saves everybody the embarassment of walking in on something they'd rather not see . . .

I will never forget walking in on two girls as an aid. Yes no kidding. and this up during the day. And more than once on doctors with other nurses in all kinds of places. I would do just what I have been doing all this time. Close the door and go give care to some other pts. Ods are they will be done in 30 min. Come back latter. Humans have many animal like tendincies, on of those is that they tend to breed. It is natural, why be shocked about it? If you remmember your lifecycles training this is normal. If we had coed rooms I guess it would be out of control, thus we don't.

sex in the hospital
I guess I am a prude. We are humans not animals and therefore we have control. If the nurse knocked and then entered the room, she still would have caught them. I would have asked the visitor to leave and called the supervisor. Sex in the hospital when you are trying to care for patients is definitely inappropriate. I cant see any hospital overlooking this. And can you imagine how you would feel if your mentally ill daughter came home from the hospital pregnant by another mentally ill patient? I would definitely be suing that hospital for allowing that. If a patient is mentally ill, how do you know they understand and consent. What a mess. I have a schizo sister and she married a guy she met in the hospital so the family had two headaches instead of one.

Review your house rules. If it's stated there that it's not allowed then confront the couple (of course this is after they're done and not during ) If it's not...just review your patient's rights. As long as they're not bothering other patients and it won't complicate the patient's condition...i don't see anything wrong with it. Close the door, giggle a bit and yes...warn your colleagues.

Sorry, but there's a step missing here. Knock on the door and wait for a response, like "Come in". That's respectful. If you have worked in an LTC, you know that patient's dignacy and privacy are top priorities (facilities get sighted for failing to comply).

You know, this is really a territorial issue. If I'm a guest in a hotel, I would be offended if the hotel staff just barged into my room to do their work. Unfortunately, we don't offer DO NOT DISTURB signs to our "guests". We don't like to think of our patients as "guests", but they are. In the city where I live, patients have choices (many hospitals), so they don't have to choose to stay in my hotel (hospital).

Don't you think our patients should be afforded at least this much respect?

I agree patients deserve privacy. But on the other hand your as a nurse are there to care for them. Procedures need to be done and medications given with a reasonable time of when they should be given. So what are you going to do chart the medication was three hours late because the patients were having sex. Patients are in the hosptial because they want medical care, don't they have a responsibility to participate and cooperate with that care?

Yep, you chart the med as late. It's your prerogative whether you want to write in a legal document "because they were having sex".

Course, if you don't want to have an adversarial relationship with your patients, you could try to work out a reasonable schedule with them for procedures. But that's only if you care about fostering a therapeutic relationship with them. If you see your job as only a list of tasks that have to be done without consideration for the human element, then your patients just have to learn to comply with your schedule.

Amen, Ginger Snap! Sexuality is as much a part of your patient as their heart, lungs, eyes, etc. Isn't it called hollistic patient care(Meaning the whole patient). Right to privacy, dignity,.....etc. Your right on!

And I was trained years ago by old prude nurses to knock on closed doors and if sex is contraindicated then........you might need to do a little bit of patient education as indicated for heart patients, etc. You know, NO sex until you can walk a flight of stairs, Your honey's EF is low you might want to take a CPR class so when he dies the next time your having sex you'll know what to do(ofcourse without a Bachelor's their poor partner might not be able to save their life but that's besides the point and that's a whole other subject), etc.

Curiosity KILLED the cat or the erection in this case......Laugh about it, find some other task to do(there's always charting, do another back rub, turn a patient, go to lunch, stock the med carts, look up your hospital's policy about patients having sex in their rooms, etc), quit being so uptight and laugh at yourself for goodness sake your not the first healthcare worker to ever walk in on someone have sex/ making love, etc and now you have a new chapter for your book!

I agree with ADNURSE1ST - and the comment on the other topic! Can't save a life without a Bachelor's degree in something or 12 years of training!