Hi Lynn,
I'm not sure if you're in a pediatric or adult environment, but I work in Pediatric Ambulatory Care and I pulled this verbiage from our Chaperone policy (forgive the formatting not pulling over great).
III. PROCEDURE:
A. A chaperone should be present for:
1. Sensitive examinations
2. Any situation where the provider feels a chaperone is warranted
3. Any circumstance where the presence of a parent or legal guardian will interfere
with the physical examination, such as a possible case of abuse or parental
mental health issues
4. Patient or parent/legal guardian requests a chaperone
5. Parent or legal guardian is not available or present for physician examination
B. The use of a chaperone in consultations that may present challenges, conflict or
with vulnerable or anxious patients are at the discretion of the provider.
C. Reasonable efforts should be made to secure a chaperone if one is recommended or
requested by a patient or parent/legal guardian.
D. Providers are responsible for explaining to the patient, and the parent or legal
guardian where applicable, why a physical examination is necessary and how it will
be performed.
E. The patient and parent/legal guardian shall be provided an opportunity to ask
questions so there is no misunderstanding about the reason for the examination or
how the examination will be performed.
F. The patient's wishes should be considered in determining the gender of the
chaperone.
G. Providers should be sensitive to a patient's ethnic, religious and cultural background.
This may influence how the examination progresses.
H. A provider should not proceed with an examination if he or she thinks the patient or
parent/legal guardian does not understand the nature and purpose of the
examination due to a language barrier or any other reason. Use of a translator is
recommended in such cases.
I. Reasonable efforts should be made to provide privacy of physical or psychological
aspects of some examination procedures (such as using gowns or drapes to protect
privacy)
J. The chaperone should remain present for the entire examination and in a position to
be able to properly observe the procedure. Any variations in the examination should
be documented.
K. It is the responsibility of the provider to accurately document the use or refusal of a
chaperone in the medical record, including the name of the chaperone.
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BrandyWilliamson, MSN RN CPN
Director, Ambulatory Nursing, Quality, & Education
Pediatric SIG Chair
Children's Healthcare-Atlanta
Atlanta,GA
brandy.williamson@choa.org------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 01-07-2025 08:46
From: Lynn D'Angelo
Subject: Chaperone Policy
Good morning,
For those ambulatory clinics that have a Chaperone Policy implemented and EPIC, what is your standard work related to documentation?
Who documents? Staff? Provider?
What is documented? Offering of chaperone, refusal, use of chaperone...
Is a progress note used? Smart text?
Thank you so much!
Lynn
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Lynn D'Angelo DNP RN NEA-BC
Director, Ambulatory Clinical Excellence
UMass Memorial Medical Center
Worcester, MA
lynn.dangelo@umassmemorial.org
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