I don't want a male nurse! - Caption Contest Winner

Nurses Rock Toon

Published

nurses-male-patient.gif.a56d5832eb7c883cdfc50747e38c1d43.gif

As nurses, we get a lot of requests. What is the most frequent request in your place of work?

Click Like if you enjoyed it. Please share this with friends and post your comments below!

Specializes in NICU.
the lack of status identification in nursing uniforms seen recently has left our clients confused about the roles we occupy. with everyone in spongebob scrubs it is now impossible to tell who is an RN and who is an NA. if our patients saw us in uniforms that indicated position occupied they might be less concerned with gender and have more respect for status.

But this isn't great for populations like peds and psych where what you wear can be frightening to them.

My facility gives everyone a badge than hangs underneath their regular badge that denotes them as "RN," "Patient Care Technician," "Doctor," "Nurse Practitioner," etc etc, all with different colors. It's pretty sizeable--you can't not notice it. My Dad (a DON) loved it so much when he saw my badge that he had his own hospital do it.

The best nurse I ever had was male...and a student nurse. He was a former police officer. I was in the ER for what they thought was appendicitis but what turned out to be a twisted ovary that caused the fallopian tube to rupture. I was 10 weeks pregnant at the time. The doc had NO bedside manner at all and clearly didn't want to be on shift any more than I wanted to be his patient.

I arrived just before shift change. The nurse going off shift, female, gave me 2mg (I think it was mg, not CC, forgive me if my measurement is off since I haven't yet entered NS. I remember the number) of morphine for pain. She checked on me a few minutes later to see how I was doing. I told her I wasn't aware she had given me anything (she administered it in the IV which was over my head and I had my eyes closed most of the time while I focused on breathing through the pain. She gave me 2 more mg of morphine and when she checked on me again to see how I was doing, I accused her of giving me saline. Yea.....not a pleasant patient... my bad. So, she gave me 4 more. Now I'm up to 8mg and finally, the pain is gone.

Now shift change.

That $%^&^ doc starts pushing on my side and asks me if it hurts more when he pushes or when he lets go. All I knew is I was fine before he touched me and now, according to Mom, I'm white as a sheet and can barely breathe again. Two days later, when I saw my OB, she explained that he was checking for appendicitis. Anyway, this male nursing student, read my chart, saw that I needed a dose of 8 before I felt any relief and told me he wasn't going to mess around with anything less, he was going to give me 8. I could have kissed him right then and there!

Long story short, I got up to 40 when he decided I had had enough morphine and he would switch me to Dilotted (sp?) if I needed any more. He laughed at me and said he couldn't believe I was coherent. He explained that people can come in there with a femur break and 8 knocks them out. I had had 40 and was still lucid. That amazed him.

While in the ER, I overheard him dealing with a drunk outside my room. Police had arrested him and due to his intoxication, had to have him checked out before taking him to jail. The guy was getting belligerant and female nurses were trying to get him to sit down and behave. My nurse was calm and firm as he addressed the drunk and he got the man to sit down and shut up. I didn't hear a peep out of him the rest of the time I was there.

I am all for male nurses and I have encouraged all three of my sons to consider it as a career. So far, none of them are interested, but they're young....they may come around. :)

I know this is not the focus of this thread but I had to address several issues brought up by this post:

1 - student nurses cannot administer IV push medication without the direct supervision of an RN

2 - the physician was checking for rebound tenderness which is one of the most common symptoms associated with appendicitis. Based on your age and presentation, appendicitis was likely his

differential diagnosis. It is unpleasant, but is an important clinical "clue" and needs to be done. He should have explained this to you.

3 - Student nurses, or any RN for that matter, cannot prescribe any medication (including and most especially narcotics). Doctors and nurses work together as a team and while the nurse can suggest a certain dosage and medication, it is ultimately the doctor writes the orders. Nurses carry through orders already written by the physician.

4 - This is the part I am almost hesistant to write: Several portions of your story lead me to believe you may be chemically dependent

a) You received 40 mg of Morphine yet were still in pain and "lucid"

b) You stated that your nurse was "the best nurse" because he gave you multiple doses of narcotics

c) Feigned inability to spell or pronounce the medication you were finally given (it is dilaudid which is 4x stronger than morphine).

I certainly don't mean to make any accusations. I sincerely apologize if I am incorrect. However, I am pointing this out for 2 reasons: Primarily, if I am correct, I implore you to seek recovery and secondly, if you are, as you state, planning to apply to nursing school, please reconsider the manner in which you speak/write. If it is a red flag to me, it will certainly be a red flag to anyone on a nursing school acceptance committee. Best luck in your future endeavors.

But just because I am a patient it doesn't mean that my modesty, comfort, and dignity has to go out the window.

I think I will never understand why being care for by a person of the opposite sex means trowing one's modesty, comfort and dignity out of the window.

If you think it is OK to discriminate someone solely on the basis of their gender, what is so wrong about discriminating on other basis, such as race, age and religion? My comfort, modesty and dignity requires nursing care by white, male Baptists ages 18-25. This is a very dangerous road to travel. Our laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender, age, color and religion and we should abide by them.

Specializes in LTC/SNF.
I think I will never understand why being care for by a person of the opposite sex means trowing one's modesty, comfort and dignity out of the window.

If you think it is OK to discriminate someone solely on the basis of their gender, what is so wrong about discriminating on other basis, such as race, age and religion? My comfort, modesty and dignity requires nursing care by white, male Baptists ages 18-25. This is a very dangerous road to travel. Our laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender, age, color and religion and we should abide by them.

I get your point, I really do. I would let a male nurse take care of me any day. But as for Pap smears and breast exams, I am extremely uncomfortable with ANYONE touching or examining my genitalia, and even more uncomfortable with the thought of a man who is not my husband getting that "up close and personal". I feel very vulnerable as it is in that tiny paper gown with my legs hoisted in the stirrups with everything on display. Having a female caregiver in that instance puts me slightly more at ease. If that constitutes discrimination in your eyes and makes me a bad person, then so be it. There are no laws against a patient in a healthcare facility refusing care from an opposite-sex care provider because it is not discrimination, just like how we still have gender-specific bathrooms, and that is not considered discrimination. In all of my nursing textbooks, when culture is discussed, same sex caregiver preference is common to many cultures, and is an accepted request to try to accommodate when feasible.

I totally understand where you are coming from. In my opinion, as a male nursing student, I think that people should be able to voice their preference when it comes to personal care or examinations such as you described. However, I think it is odd when patients request a female caregiver in general, unless there is some clear reason, such as religious/cultural preference. Are females more appropriate for managing your IV, giving your medications, or changing a dressing (excepting for location)? I don't see what argument could be made for that. I feel like there is some sort of line that needs to be drawn, but it really can't be universal because that would infringe on the rights of some. So ultimately I think it comes down to nursing judgement to determine whether a patients request is reasonable, or for valid reasons, or simply an attempt to manipulate the staff. I think most cases are the former, and we all can identify when it is the latter.

Specializes in Nephrology.

is that suppose to be funny?

What if having only white nurses makes me more comfortable? Why shouldn't that be upheld too? What if that is my culture, personal preferences which are (to me)as important as any religion or belief and can certainly be as misguided!!?! I am just playing devil's advocate. I prefer female doctors mostly for a couple of reasons i prefer not to discuss, BUT after working as a nurse and with many male and female drs, pas, nurses, aides etc I care less and less everyday. Also I will often look for a picture of a dr I am going to see , where they graduated from medical school and residency before I see them for the most part. Sometimes this male/female requeat is not so easy to accomadate .

Specializes in med-tele/ER.

I don't get it.

Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

I don't have boobs, so a lot of male doctors don't like to talk to me, especially residents and younger attendings.

Also, I am bigger than many of them, so I think I intimidate them. It's odd but all that supposed superiority due to intellect and training can still shrivel in the presence of a big man. Unfortunately, it often tends to manifest in a certain snippishness or outright ignoring.

I relate well to female doctors of course, and my co-workers seem to like me.

For the very much larger part, my patients and their families love me.

This is nothing.

I have been told I look "12 years old" or "teenager," therefore they want another nurse.

As a PCT it is the most annoying thing I deal with.

As I spend more time in the field it is more and more a nuisance.

Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.

As a male nurse I have had this happen a number of time. No big deal. I understand and will go out of my way to accomadate. What I do have a problem with is when a female arrives unannounced in a rural ER and pitches a fit when there isn't a female physican or nurse to care for her. Many times we have been an all male staff (of 3) on in the ER. Our manager always makes sure to schedual a female CNA in the ER so we have a female to be in the room with us. A few times we have had women or girls insist on a female doc or nurse. Well sorry this is what we have. Deal with it or go someplace else.

Now in the case where the patient can call ahead and make her preference known, or in a case of an admission over several shifts / days when it is possible I will go out of my way to accomadate their preference. I understand thier discomfort and speaking as the nurse the last thing I want is a patient who is uncomfortable with my gender. Who knows how she will percieve my normal nursing care and what she will say. My license shudders.

+ Add a Comment