Can Male RNs get jobs in Maternity Nursing?

[Samian Q]

So anyway, I'm a guy in nursing school, and I'm currently 'undeclared' re: my track for this accelerated MSN program.

Of the tracks I could apply to at my school, I can choose from Adult Health, Public Health, Child Health, and Maternity.

Public Health's pretty interesting, but the words "Adult Health" will make me run for the hills in terror. Pathophysiology is the bane of my existence :/

Starting next week, I'll take my Maternity and Child Health courses. I've heard that the job market's tough for Child Health tracked grads, but it's relatively better for Maternity.

But they only hire women for Maternity nursing, right? Even if the track's administrative, the female patients obviously want a female maternity nurse?

[MrWarmHearted]

Agreed with Table for 9 - plus I personally don't think males should be in L&D. It makes most of the female patients (particularly their male counterparts) uncomfortable.

[lxpatterson]

I disagree.

I think women are more receptive to having a male nurse working with them when their male partner is with them. In my experiences as a student in post-partum I found I was less likely to be outright rejected or given an odd look when a male caregiver (dad, brother, friend, etc) was there. I think it made the woman feel more secure in a situation where they may feel particularly weak (after labour) and vulnerable in the presence of a strange male. As I was a new student and absolutely new to women's health I also felt more comfortable with another guy to talk to.

That said, I also believe that the opportunities for male in LD are limited, unfortunately. I found the energy, medical problems and collegial relationships really appealing in LD, but I realized that this would be a hard field for a guy to break into. I think the epiphany came when I was speaking to a good friend (an soon-to-be mom) told me that she specifically requested a female OB. I realized at that point that the numbers of males practicing in this field (whether MD or RN) is probably going to be shrinking rather than growing. With a greater number of female docs around most women will probably choose to have females around during labour.

Many of you have stated that you would be ok having a male RN or OB, but you are all educated clinicians who may not represent the feelings of the average patient.

[cycloxer]

3rd yr Canadian Nsg Student here; and male.

I recently did a research paper on 'Men in Maternity Nursing.' The results surprised me: I found that most women don't care about the sex of their OB/GYN as long as they are caring and competent. For nurses there were some different results, but very little research in general. Overall, the consensus seemed that women didn't have any issues with having men as their primary RNs across cultures and histories of sexual/physical abuse (but there were some nursing tasks they were less comfortable having male nurses - I countered this with the fact that comfortability has more to do with the individual attributes and professionalism of the RN irrespective of sex). I also spent the summer in maternity in Kenya and developed a passion for Mat-child health and then I was in postpartum back in ON, Canada this fall. Next fall I'm in L&D here in Canada as well.

Now I'm toying with the ideas of RN in L&D, MW, OB/GYN or NP specializing in Obs. I'm really interested in First Nations and global health so it seems intuitive to me to gain invaluable experience in maternity. I also think that men being in maternity creates a unique space for growth as men and growth for society.

[lxpatterson]

That's really interesting, thank you!

I hope you will get a chance at working with first nations. I am sure that your prior work in a third world setting will be helpful in some of the communities up north -something we Canadians have to reflect on with a certain amount of shame. Good luck!

[happytoexhist]

One of my female classmates asked my maternity instructor if any men have ever worked on maternity at our hospital. The instructor answered with something like, "Not that I know of. It isn't on the books but I think that hiring men is something that they just don't do here". Several months later, my cousin's first child was born. He told me about a conversation with one of the staff members who told him, "We don't hire men on this floor".

So, I guess that's how it is in Alberta, Canada. Personally, maternity is not my area of interest but I even if it was, I wouldn't want to work in a place where my co-workers feel that I don't belong.