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Editor's note: All names have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals and teams involved.
THE SITUATION
Ashley is a perioperative nurse at a large hospital. One day during a procedure, Ashley noticed the conversation between the surgeon (Dr X) and the surgical technologist (ST), Stephanie, was becoming more personal with sexual innuendo. Ashley spoke up and said, "I would like both of you to focus on the patient and please refrain from any more sexual comments." The surgeon looked up at Ashley and mumbled something to Stephanie, and then they both laughed. Later during the same procedure, Ashley again heard sexual innuendo between Dr X and Stephanie. Ashley noticed that Stephanie appeared to welcome the comments and was overtly flirting with Dr X. This made Ashley uncomfortable, but she told herself not to get involved with their relationship unless it affected her patient's care because that was her primary focus.
After the procedure, Ashley met privately with Jennifer, the charge nurse, for advice about how to handle the situation, and Jennifer's recommendation was to report the incident to human resources (HR). However, Ashley was afraid of reprisal and retaliation and chose not to report the exchange that day. Two days later, after Ashley overheard other nurses on her team talking about the conversations between Stephanie and Dr X, she decided to follow Jennifer's advice and talk to HR. The HR representative told Ashley that because the facility did not employ Dr X, they were unable to address the issue. When Ashley returned to her unit, she met privately with Jennifer about the HR meeting and requested additional advice. Jennifer phoned the HR representative and received the same response Ashley had received, so she advised Ashley to document the situation and discuss the situation with the manager.
The next week, Ashley was working with Stephanie again but a different surgeon. She did not observe any inappropriate comments or flirtatious behavior during the procedures, and the procedures went very smoothly. Several weeks passed before Ashley was scheduled to work with Stephanie and Dr X again. Ashley overheard exchanges of sexual innuendo dominating the conversation again at the surgical field. Ashley spoke up as she had before and said, "Please stop, this is someone's family...