Poll: Male Nurses in the OB? Ok or No Way???

txspadequeenRN, BSN, RN · Nov 4, 2006

How does your wife feel about having a male for a nurse or a doctor? If you both feel the same then it is just as easy as making a request when it comes time for her to be cared for. I see no problem here because I know the intentions are null and void, it is simply a job PERIOD!!!! Like I said before these male nurses/doctors go home to their own wives and dont give yours a second thought. You are continuing to make this issue about male nurses violating your intimacy rights with your wife. Do you oppose a male Doctor or a lesbian nurse/Doctor? You have come to a forum where 90% of the posters are nurses and even though they do have different comfort levels, I think most are open to having the opposite sex care for them. I choose who my doctor is PERIOD, my husband has no say. If I have a male nurse and I feel comfortable with him ..then he stays as my nurse. If my husband does not like it, he will need to go get some fresh air and come back in liking the idea that his wife is completly ok with this nurse/doctor situation..

my apologies, i did not mean to offend anyone, i was just trying to relay information based on my own personal experiences. this is what i am trying to figure out, how do i communicate my feelings to nurses/staff, or doctors to make them understand how we view things? i know that it is old hat to you so i expect that you see no problems with this type of procedure and probably dont understand why we feel the way we do. how do we cross the bridge to make the experience as comforatable as possiblew for both sides? that is what i am trying to figure out by doing these posts. i am sorry if i offended you. i think it is commendable what you people do, because i couldnt do it. i do know what i am talking about i have been through a lot of medical situations with my family.i am sure i am not the only one that feels this way.

dfurbee · Nov 7, 2006

You bet!! I would rather have a male nurse than a male doctor!!!

Sunny01 · Nov 8, 2006

I have absolutely no problem with having male nurses in the OB department (L&D included). We have OBGYN male doctors and there is no problem with that, is there?

PMFB-RN, RN · Nov 8, 2006

as myself a father of four i can tell you that i personally hate male doctors or male anything looking at my wife. i am supposed to be there to support her and if i am stressed out too over to many dudes in the room how can i help her?

*** A better solution to your stress may be to seek a solution to what's stressing you. Maybe therapy.

PMFB (RN & father of 2 with one on the way)

PMFB-RN, RN · Nov 8, 2006

Please tell me what you think about male nurses in OB, specifically the delivery room.

$$

*** Nurses who happen to be male belong in the delivery room as much as they belong in any other area of professional nursing or medical practice.

That said, as an RN who happens to be male I would absolutly respect and honor a female patients request to not have me in the room (assuming that there was a qualified female nurse I could turn her care over to).

I used to work PRN in a small very rural community hospital. One night shift I was the only RN in the building. A 16 year old girl came in well advanced in her labor. Her boyfriend (looked to be about 25 to me) said he didn't want any other men looking at his GF's *#@ (vulgar term for lady parts) I called in the oncall RN (female) but she didn't make it in time (neither did the on call Doc). She delivered a healthy baby boy. A CNA and I were the only ones there to help her. In that case no way was I going to turn her care over to a CNA, though I would have done so if a female RN had been available.

BTW the girl was way beyond caring who was helping her as long as some body was.

Liliana98 · Nov 9, 2006

The only problem I can see with it is having a muslim patient giving birth...but even then, you can switch a female nurse to that patient and all is fine (they only accept same sex health care professionals).

mrpanicatm · Dec 3, 2006

why are you respecting only the wishes of muslum patients? i think every one should be allowed to choose. some of us have a condition known as "gymnophobia" it affects us just as badly as someone that has a fear of heights, spiders, or whatever. everyone here seems to think it is immature to think this way. however, what if you were going to get a haircut, and you wanted Mary instead of Bill? is that immature as well? i think in an emergency nobody is going to deny medical care for their loved one or self, but if you have a choice, it should be made clear, yes you have a choice. in fact, i think it should be an all consent forms a box to select what gender you feel most comforatable with for intimate care procedures. its that simple. people like options, and not feeling as though they have arrived at the county correctional facility, where there is no freedom to choose. i cant imagine anyone wanting a strange man doing intimate things to their spouse, unless they live at a nudist colony or something. but iwould say most of us prefer our privacy. if you dont see it as a problem then the next time you do your round, why dont you do them with the skimpy hospital gown on only?

majestix · Dec 8, 2006

Unless we change the rules so that any patient can choose the gender of their caregivers for any care in which they might feel uncomfortable with one gender or the other, I think we are being unfair and sexist to say that male nurses should not be allowed in OB/GYN. We allow male doctors to do OB/GYN. And we allow female nurses and doctors to do prostate exams, testicular cancer care, etc.

Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP · Dec 9, 2006

I am a nurse and when I was in labor, I distinctly remember saying to the doc in the room at the time "I wouldn't care if President Bush walked in the room right now." Most women I have talked to -- I work mother/baby -- feel pretty much the same way. When you are in labor, esp the transition/pushing, you do not care who is in the room as long as they are helping and not hurting the situation. At least I didn't. The CRNA who put in my epidural was male; he saw my naked butt while he put it in and he saw me again breastfeeding while he dc'ed the epi. Do you think I cared that he saw any of that? Not a lick.

I personally do not think it matters whether the RN is a male or female, as long as they know what they are doing. I also agree with most of the posters who say that if someone is uncomfortable with a male RN or a male doc, they should speak up and their wishes should be respected if at all possible.

My husband and I are both very conservative and I consider myself to be a modest person. But my OB/GYN is a male, and you know what? You would be hard-pressed to convince me to see anyone else. Why? Because he knows what he is doing, he has an extremely good bedside manner, and he is professional about what he does. I know that at the end of the day he goes home to his wife and 4 kids and does not give a rat's rear end about having seen my naked hiney.

pedsnrs1 · Jan 19, 2007

If the patient is comfortable with it I don't see why not. I had a male nurse care for me once and he was fantastic. Was more careful to observe my privacy than female nurses. I guess we girls just figure since we have the same parts it shouldn't matter--a natural response.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Jan 20, 2007

I think male OB/L&D nurses are wonderful.

It seems so silly that some women will readily accept care from male obstetricians, while swiftly asking the male L&D nurse to leave the delivery room because they're so 'offended' by his presence.

elizabeth321 · Jan 20, 2007

Men have been delivering babies for years....ridiculous that the sex of the nurse is even a topic people entertain.

Liz