Hindrance to professional growth

[exit96]

I have this in the ER thread because I am in ER. Therefore with the acuity levels, "conveniences" are not, or shouldn't be a hindrance to patient care. I'll try to make this short, I a really quite depressed about this topic.

First, I am a male RN. I realize that many/ most will not admit to what I am implying here.

For one, always take the patients wishes into consideration, no problem, I am a professional, or at least id like to be treated like one. Why is it that female patients are always catered to? Pelvic exam, cath etc...??? Why am I immediately presumed "not qualified" to be involved with these procedures? I know what some of the "reasons" that will be stated.

I have passed background checks, got my RN license, am a decent and respected individual, but I am presumed to be a danger? to female patients?? I say "I and me" meaning males in general.

With the amount of males in nursing now, does anyone EVER assume that the guy would like to have a male nurse doing a cath? No. We "presume" and follow stereotypes. "Oh guys don't care..." etc. YET, we exclude males from certain care tasks when the female patient hasn't voiced an aversion at all. Again, "ask if the female would mind???" Really?? Does anyone ask the male "if he would mind a female being in there?" I'm sure some will say something like " well females have been nursing for a long time and the males just know that they have to deal with it..." Well, males are nurses now, where is the consistency?? Male trauma patients come in and no one hesitates in removing all clothing, just let it alll hang out and many times don't even get them covered up in a reasonable amount of time. Inversely, the female trauma comes in, and soon it's " oh it's a female, us girls will go in and do such and such" or they won't remove the clothing as quickly or as openly as they will on a guys, and sometimes I have seen them not remove pants because they "didn't want to ruin her clothes!" What?!?!

And by the way, no one rushes in and saves granny from a male giving her an enema. DOUBLE STANDARS ABOUND. Makes me sick and depressed. How will I advance in professional practice with all the "assumed" problems with males and female patients?

I will say, I don't care. The girls can do ALL the patients, male and female, caths enemas, pelvis, for all I care. But when the selectivity comes out it is just plain WRONG, and it IS discrimination.

One more point; it is wise to avoid being alone with a female patient for the "private" tasks...reason being, all that it would take it 1 female making an accusation and my entire career could be over. Inversely, is a male patient made a complaint against a female nurse it wouldn't even be taken seriously.

[SoldierNurse22, BSN, RN]

The hindrance I speak of is this; we have had shifts where there is all male RN's, male PA, and a male Doctor.

One of these days there will be a situation where a female has to be examed or whatever....I'd rather know what to do and have a few experiences BEFORE an emergent or urgent situation arises. Again, I am a professional RN, don't put chains on me unless someone voices a concern

I understand where you're coming from and the problem presented by having all-male staff on certain shifts. I really, really do. We had shifts at my old workplace where it was all women, and if we had a male patient who was uncomfortable with females doing certain aspects of his care, we had to run and get our OIC (floor manager, usually a major or lieutenant colonel) to do that piece of the care. If it was emergent, well, you were pretty much stuck with what you had available, and most people I know would rather live than die preserving their modesty.

I respect and applaud you for your desire to have experience before you find yourself in a serious situation where the examination of a female patient is required, especially considering that the woman in such a scenario will probably be very upset and experience on your part will help in easing her fears.

[exit96]

Regarding the underlined above- It's really not all that complicated. Cutting the clothes of a female trauma pt is very similar to cutting them off a guy, though there are bumps in different places. As far as foleys go, I assume you do them on elderly pt's, many of whom do not care whether it is done by male or female. I know because I ask.

I know plenty of other guys in nursing, none of whom feel it's a struggle to be considered a nurse. Maybe you work in a really weird environment.

All societies have cultural norms. Most involve significant differentiation in roles of men and women. Those norms change over time. The fact that you are in nursing is an indication of this change. You might be reading a bit much into the whole thing. There are both advantages and disadvantages to being a man in this field. I suggest focusing on the positives.

You're missing the point (principal) of what I am presenting entirely.

[exit96]

Are you aware of the statistics that exist, which only represent a fraction of incidents actually reported, in regard to the physical, mental, and sexual abuse of women? It is a fact that many women are killed, raped, sexually abused, and abused mentally and physically by men. Many women are afraid of men and do not wish to be placed in a vulnerable position with a strange man, even if he is a licensed nurse. So as a male nurse, I would expect you to not be personally offended by the reality that many women, for the above reasons, as well as cultural, religious, generational, and other reasons, are afraid of receiving intimate care from a male nurse/doctor, and actually will feel traumatized if they are put in that situation.

I do believe of course, that both sexes should be able to request to be able to receive care from a nurse of the gender that they prefer, and be accommodated if at all possible.

I doubt that your statical evidence has anything to do with what I am talking about. I'm talking about some of my peers, jumping in without even asking me or notifying me, without the patient ever verbalizing an aversion. I don't know about you, but I don't get involved with someone else's patient without speaking to that Nurse first, unless it's something small.

[Sassy5d]

Have you tried talking to your partners about this like you have us?

[Susie2310]

I doubt that your statical evidence has anything to do with what I am talking about. I'm talking about some of my peers, jumping in without even asking me or notifying me, without the patient ever verbalizing an aversion. I don't know about you, but I don't get involved with someone else's patient without speaking to that Nurse first, unless it's something small.

In your OP you asked the question "Why is it that female patients are always catered to?". I attempted to answer your question. Then you complained about some of your peers making the assumption that female patients would prefer to receive care from a female in certain situations, and in your post above you refer to "some of my peers, jumping in without even asking or notifying me, without the patient ever verbalizing an aversion." My answer is that not all women patients who do not wish to receive care from a male will feel comfortable expressing this, and it is considerate to presume that women, particularly when they are going to receive more intimate types of care from a male nurse/doctor, will prefer to receive that care from another female. I suspect that is why your female co-workers are rushing in to help. Your profile says you are a 49 year old man with one year of nursing experience. Nursing is about your patients, not about your ego. Why does it bother you so much that your female co-workers, who understand womens feelings and fears much better than you do, are assisting with your patients without speaking to you first?

[rse3]

My female coworkers and I were just talking about this subject yesterday. However, we were talking about how several of our male colleagues use the "she's a female" excuse to get out of a lot of work. There are a couple who even refuse to do EKGs on women for religious and cultural reasons. I'm not implying (at ALL) that you are doing this.

Yes, sometimes society sucks. I would even go so far as to say that the idea of genders at all can really suck sometimes. However, it's a lot harder to change society than it is your current situation. Can you just tell your coworkers to back off until you have a chance to talk to your pt about being cathed, pelvicized (yes, we made up that word and use it regularly in our ED), etc. by a male? Good luck!

[applewhitern, BSN, RN]

My male GYN and my male Internist always have a female nurse or assistant with them when they examine my "private" areas. Many times, a male doctor has asked me to come into a room with him, as he does a pelvic exam on a female patient. I have known two male nursing assistants who were fired because a female patient complained about them being "inappropriate." Whether that was true or not, who knows- but they were fired nevertheless.

[BostonFNP, APRN]

I never do a internal exam without a female MA in the room with me. This protects the patient and provider.

[applewhitern, BSN, RN]

There are many hospitals that will allow only a female to cath or perform peri-care on a female patient. Also, male nurses and male nursing assistants bathe the male patients. That is still common in my area. I seriously doubt your professional growth will be affected if you never cath or exam a female's privates.

[Sassy5d]

I seriously doubt your professional growth will be affected if you never cath or exam a female's privates.

when you put it that way

[beshacohen]

Not only would I prefer to have my cath (shudder) installed by a female nurse, I choose female practitioners always, for everything. Every doctor, NP, or other practitioner who I choose to take care of me is female. I'm just more comfortable with my own gender. I mean you no harm, but I really prefer women as medical providers. Let go, and just be happy you don't have to cath the ladies. I hate having to do that. Some of the elderly ladies in my facility have some very non-standard anatomy and it's difficult to get a cath in them.

[%63theend]

I happen to agree. I do not believe as female nurses we should be doing caths on male patients alone. At my hospital male employees are not allowed to be with female patients in any state of undress without another employee present. The same is not true of female employees with males. I think it should be. I also think preferences should be respected. I take issue with males other than my husband seeing any part of me that would be covered by a swimsuit. That's important to me. I would respect males who felt the same way for any reason. I haven't met many males like that but I have had many male patients intentionally flash me. Maybe we just need cameras in the rooms like on Grey's anatomy lol.