Males In L&D

mark_LD_RN · May 3, 2002

hi i work in L&D and love it I am a male nurse by the way,:). (i hate the term male nurse). but anyway my patients love me several have request i be their nurse on return visits. It was very diffucult to get into this area as a male and feel something neeeds to be done about it. I am currently looking into becoming a midwife.good luck to all, and keep an open mind

Hardknox · May 3, 2002

I worked with a male OB nurse and he was very good, but some of our couples refused to have him. This happens with our male student nurses also. Many of our male OB's have a hard time getting patients because the women in our area seem to prefer a female OB. These are mainly younger, childbearing age woman. I don't know if it's my area (New England) or what. When I ask them about it they say they feel a woman will be more empathetic. Yet I go to a male OB/GYN and he is more empathetic than all the female OB/Gyn's on the staff.

Incidentally, our one and only male L&D RN left to go work in Psych. He still worked in Childbirth Ed. Our hospital had NO policy against males in OB--but no one else ever applied.

fergus51 · May 3, 2002

I disagree with canoehead. I think patients have the right to a competent nurse. Period. We would never be so accomodating to a patient who only wanted a white nurse, or a young nurse, so I don't think we have to accomodate women who want a female nurse. This is coming from a L&D nurse who has never worked with a man on the unit...

Brownms46 · May 3, 2002

fergus 51...no matter where you work...it stills doesn't negate the fact...that caneohead is correct about males protecting themselves from possible erroneous charges from females...which also males MD protect themselves from. A MD as caneohead pointed out...can request a female be present during an exam....but what would be the point with a nurse who is male...to request a nurse who is female to chaprone him whiling examining a female pt????

I don't have a problem with males working in L&D....but there are abuses...and you have to acknowledge...that wishing all things would be equal...doesn't change the reality .....that there have been incidents of men misusing their positions...and there are women who make false charges ...for whatever reason.

In the beginning I didn't equate men working in L&D as a problem....but when I look at it from this standpoint....I can clearly see the problem. Hospitals are all about eliminating the possibility of lawsuuits....hence all the paperwork we now do...as opposed to many years ago. Seems just like a case of CYA to me....from their standpoint!

fergus51 · May 3, 2002

I understand there is a perception that they could face eroneous charges, but I don't know any stats that show that. Until they do I don't think a hospital has the right to keep them out. We were ddiscussing that aspect at work and one nurse told me studies have shown nurses make more med errors when menstruating, but it can't be used to keep them out of the hospital during that time of the month:)

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · May 3, 2002

OK If we put aside patient wishes for a moment there is also the men going into that room and exposing themselves to possible accusations of improper behavior. Even the most meticulous nurses ave been accused of being to rough or aggressive with a lady partsl exam, I assume men would be as vulnerable or more so. If a man chooses to put himself in a legally risky situation he has every right, but can we force an employer to take on that risk too?

Just FYI I am FOR male OB nurses but would like to hear ideas about how to iron out the reasons not to have them.

fergus51 · May 3, 2002

All I am saying, is I don't know if men in OB ARE accused of such things more often and even if they are, you wouldn't use that excuse to not hire...say...black nurses if they were shown to have higher rates of this type of accusation than white nurses. I don't think it's somehow it is ok to do this to men...

nurs2bhopefully · Aug 22, 2002

I agree with whoever (I can't remember and I'm too lazy to go back and look- teehee) said there would be no difference in a male nurse or male OB/GYN. I've had 3 children and there was a male nurse present for two of them, didn't bother me a bit. Bbbuuutttt, it's because they were very professional and it was obvious that they were trying their best to help make me comfortable and they really seemed to enjoy their job. On the other hand, if it had've been someone who acted nervous, or uncomfortable with the situation, that would definitely make me uncomfortable. (But It would also make me uncomfortable to have a nervous female nurse) So I honestly don't see anything wrong with the male nurses in the delivery room. Just another opinion!

rnoflabor2000 · Aug 22, 2002

Suprisingly when I ask my patients if they will allow a male student nurse to observe their deliveries, it is the husbands that don't want it. But they sure seem to say OK more if they are male firefighters or EMT's. That almost tells me something that I don't want to know, that nurses are less important? I believe that the media overplays some fields, and several underplays others.

researchrabbit · Aug 22, 2002

Heck, it wouldn't have mattered to me who was in my delivery room as long as they were competent (couldn't tell you to this day whether or not the whole population of OKC paraded past my door and through the delivery room -- after a certain point, it seems like everyone and their dog has seen everything you have and you're so busy with labor and delivery anyway that it just doesn't matter).

I didn't get a choice on my OB/GYN either -- the only ones on my insurance were male MDs, so male is what I got, and then at delivery, I didn't even get MINE because he was on vacation!

mark_LD_RN · Aug 22, 2002

well i never have had a problem from my patients or from their husbands. only problem i ever had was from other nurses and the occasional doctor. my patients love me, and have many send their family and friends to my hospital and ask for me to be their nurse. I think this is being made into a much bigger issue than it is. males in nursing should be treated just as females in nursing are. and by the way i hate the term male nurse! we do not call females who are doctors so why must we point out when a nurse is a male, it just plants that little seed which usually grows out of proportion. and no i do not use a chaperone unless the patient requests one.

NurseDianne, ADN · Aug 23, 2002

Ok, I'm an OB nurse, my husband is also a nurse. :kiss gotta luv him. Our delima? When the delivered patient goes to the floor, he just may be the nurse. In the past there was some questions about his ability. To check for flow, massaging the fundus, etc. My arguement is this, he takes care of all types of surgery patients, mastectomies, vulvectomies, etc.....so, what's the difference? What's everyone's major malfunction? I had a wonderful OB nurse, all 250, 6'3", of him. Never been treated better.

Oh, we are a small hospital, so we do a little of everything, no division of med/surg, post-part. floors. ( Ok, so we only have one floor)

Anyway, the point is. Let us be nurses, not male/female.

PS: my husband says he doesn't want to manipulate strange womens bodyparts.....:roll