Does my adult patient have a right to look at pornography?

[violas]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida. He is not in the hospital. He receives nursing care from one nurse per shift in a board and care home. The other nurses say that No he cannot look at any porn on his computer because the nurses find it offensive. I personally hate porn. However, the patient is over 18, alert, oriented and does not have a POA or any kind of conservatorship. I hate porn but at the same time I do not feel I have the right to tell him he can't watch porn if he chooses to do so. None of the nurses have reported any inappropriate sexual behavior from this patient. The board and care home is his home and I feel that he has the right to watch porn in his own home. So who is legally correct? Me or the other nurses? What can he do legally if the other nurses refuse to allow him to watch porn on his personal computer?

 

[ecmst12]

He can do what he wants in the privacy of his home. I don't know what kind of rules exist in the facility he is living in though, or if there is any code of conduct that he agreed to when he was admitted there. From a nursing perspective, the nurses should respect his privacy and leave him alone if he is having a "private moment" and is not in any distress. However, it is not inappropriate for them to ask him not to intentionally engage in those activities when they are present. Ultimately, though, the policy will be up to the management of the facility.

 

[xylene]

The nurses who are seeking to curtail his human rights are asking for a lawsuit.

Sexuality is a human right, and their have been lawsuits about this complex issue.

 

[Proserpina]

Wouldn't exposing employees to porn constitute sexual harassment?

 

[Just Blue]

The HUGE Px Hx is a must.

 

[ecmst12]

Wouldn't exposing employees to porn constitute sexual harassment?

The person in question is not another employee, he's a customer. The nurses have the right to a harassment-free environment, BUT the patient watching porn in his own room and being walked in on by a staff member is not harassment, it's invasion of privacy by the staff member. The patient is alert and oriented, the staff members should be KNOCKING and waiting for PERMISSION to enter the room, unless he is in distress and needs medical attention or other assistance. Now, if the staff member was already in the room providing care or cleaning the room or whatever, and the patient turns on the porn while the staff member is present, the staff member can of course ask him to turn it off until they are done with their task. If the patient were to refuse, the staff member should kick it up the chain to the boss, or HR if necessary. But it's an ENTIRELY different situation than if it were another employee watching porn at work.

 

[Proserpina]

Yes, I got that - I was referring to the client exposing the employees to porn.

 

[ecmst12]

There is no law controlling what the patient/customer can do in this situation. He's not breaking any laws by watching porn in his own home. He's not indecently exposing himself (according to the OP) or doing anything else illegal to the staff. And he's not subject to employment law in this situation. So the management at the home are really limited in what they can do, but they do have to respond to an employee's concerns about being exposed to offensive behavior by patients. I really suspect that there is a policy in place which does NOT involve telling the patient he can't watch porn ever, unless perhaps he agreed to such a "house rule" when he entered the facility, which is possible.

 

[xylene]

Yes, I got that - I was referring to the client exposing the employees to porn.

By your logic, a pizza delivery driver should be able to sue me for the minimum wage violations of his employer

 

[ecmst12]

More like if the driver doesn't knock before coming into your house and catches you in a compromising position. He couldn't sue you for that either, he should have freaking knocked first.

 

[justalayman]

More like if the driver doesn't knock before coming into your house and catches you in a compromising position. He couldn't sue you for that either, he should have freaking knocked first.

I believe the nurses employer could have some liability for allowing their employees to be subject to sexual harassment. Obviously the guy can do what he wants in his own home but the staffing company is still required to protect their employees from situations that would be considered to be sexual harassment. The staffing company cannot make the guy stop watching porn but they can refuse to send a nurse to the house.

 

[ecmst12]

Hence why the nurses would need to go to their employer if they feel the conditions are harassing.

This isn't a home care situation, it's a nursing home. The employer can't refuse to send a nurse into his room when he needs one, but they can set ground rules/boundaries for both the patient and the nurses.

 

[justalayman]

ecmst12;3083661]Hence why the nurses would need to go to their employer if they feel the conditions are harassing.

no argument here. Absolutely agreed.

The employer can't refuse to send a nurse into his room when he needs one, but they can set ground rules/boundaries for both the patient and the nurses.

When he needs one? That requires definition to be able to be addressed.

The bottom line; the employer cannot require a nurse be exposed to sexual harassment. The nurses can refuse to attend to the guy. It is up to the employer to deal with the situation, not the employees.

 

[Antigone*]

In the facility where my daughter resided for a time, the older teenage boys sometimes needed time to themselves. The nurses merely closed the curtains and focused on other patients. They were not allowed to tell the boys to stop.

 

[ecmst12]

And, the nurse could be fired for refusing to care for a patient even when he is NOT watching porn, and if he is following the boundaries set down by management. A nurse does not have to put up with sexual behavior from a patient, but she also can't pick and choose who to care for, and this patient has not actually harassed anyone. If he rings his call bell and a nurse refuses to answer it just because he likes his private time, that's misconduct in a serious way, she could actually be disciplined by the nursing board for that. It's not the nurse's job to judge a patient's lifestyle. And seriously, the guy is stuck in a nursing home, the little pleasures of life for him are probably pretty few and far between. If a nurse walks into his room for something routine and he's doing that, she can walk out, or she can tell him she'll be back in 10 minutes when he's finished. If she walks in because he's in distress, and it happens to be on, she should pay no attention to it and care for her patient, because that's her job. But the patient's needs and safety is far far above the nurse's comfort in priorities. That's part of what it means to be a nurse.