Sexual Harassment of Female Providers by Patients: a Qualitative Study

Background Sexual harassment of women is a pervasive problem. Prior studies found that sexual harassment of female providers by patients is common, but guidance on addressing this problem is limited. Objective To understand the experiences of female providers with sexual harassment by patients with a focus on how practicing providers address these events. Design Qualitative study using semi-structured interviews. Participants Twenty female, internal medicine providers, including resident physicians, staff physicians, and nurse practitioners at a large, urban, academic hospital in the USA. Approach Interviews were analyzed for themes. Key Results Two themes were explored: first, the experiences with sexual harassment and, second, the strategies to address sexual harassment. We coded four sub-themes regarding participant experiences: (1) their descriptions of the types of harassment, (2) the context of the event, (3) the impact of the harassment, and (4) their preparation to address the harassment. We coded seven sub-themes on strategies used by participants: (1) indirect strategies, (2) confrontation, (3) modifying the clinical encounter, (4) modifying self, (5) alerting others, (6) debrief, and (7) report. Conclusion Our qualitative study found that sexual harassment of female providers by patients is an ongoing problem, disruptive to the patient-provider relationship, and a possible threat to the well-being of both provider and patient. Formal training on how to address this problem was lacking, but all providers had developed or adapted strategies based on personal experiences or role modeling. Educating providers on strategies is an important next step to addressing this problem.