I do not <3 OB...anyone else?

Nursing Students Male Students

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Specializes in Informatics, Orthopaedics.

So I have been dreading having to do OB ever since I started school...now it is here and after a weekend of clinicals I am just totally over it. It doesn't really help that I was pretty much the only male on the entire floor, and there was one nurse in particular who made it very clear that I was wholly unwelcome.

I have another clinical set this weekend, and I just read the notes from the clinical instructor that she was very unhappy with my performance. I know I need to pull up my big boy pants and pick it up a notch or 2 this weekend, but I feel like I am totally wasting my time with this.

I guess this is just a rant post...but anyone else out there feel my pain?

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Obviously you learn a lot in all your rotations so try to get as much out of it as you can but there are areas we all really didn't like... I'm with you, I will take any job before working OB, didn't like psych much either but as I said, your clinicals do help tie it all together so take any experiences you can get. It'll be over soon and you'll be on to the next rotation.

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Specializes in Pediatric/Adolescent, Med-Surg.

While you may not have any interest in OB, you can apply the things you learn in OB class. For example, I work ER, and we have pts come in all the time with GYN issues/pregnancy concerns. When I worked med-surg, I would occasionally take care of pregnant or breast feeding pts, and took care of plenty of pts with GYN cancers.

While you may have no interest in OB just because you are a dude, I think you will still find that you will learn information that will be able to be applied to other areas of nursing

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Specializes in Hematology/Oncology.

Why is she unhappy with your performance? I have never seen an instructor truly be unhappy unless you were incompetent with the patient.

All the nurses that have precepted for me have been very nice and welcoming to me. I am on my final semester. The most miserable nurse I had as a preceptor was an OR nurse and its cause she didnt like nursing(she said it). Thats why she does OR

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Specializes in Informatics, Orthopaedics.

@ChristineN it simply hadn't occurred to me about how GYN/pregnancy issues might come up even in different areas...thanks for that it actually gave me something to center on for this weekend.

@Delgadido Lol retarded with patients no...obviously not wanting to be there, definitely. I just have to pull my head out and be a better student this weekend. And grats on final semester!

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Specializes in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.

I'll let you know in 3 weeks when I start my rotation xP

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My OB instructor hated males, you could definitely tell as she would never make eye contact with you in discussion groups nor would she talk to you during clinicals besides the bare minimum. Honestly, OB sucked but I have had a couple of non-nursing GFs who were impressed by how much I knew about the subject matter. So there are pluses! Just push through it.

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I did not enjoy it. I was told by a nurse right in front of my instructor that men had no place in OB. Myself and the 2 other male students had to leave the ward and use the public waiting room restroom because we were not allowed to use the staff locker room. (The male Doctors could though).

During my 6 week rotation I did not see one birth. All I did was take vitals, change diapers and make icepacks.

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Specializes in Hematology/Oncology.

I'm sorry to hear that from both of you... I could never imagine a clinical experience like that. All the nurses, instructors, and patients have been great with me. I am also in a East texas town too which is the odd thing because people here are very conservative. I am also hispanic/asian in a white dominate community. I havent experienced sexism or any form of racism.

The LD nurses told my instructor I should be an OB nurse..

It makes me sad to hear these stories from yall(srs)

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I did not enjoy it. I was told by a nurse right in front of my instructor that men had no place in OB. Myself and the 2 other male students had to leave the ward and use the public waiting room restroom because we were not allowed to use the staff locker room. (The male Doctors could though).

During my 6 week rotation I did not see one birth. All I did was take vitals, change diapers and make icepacks.

That's the irony of it all. Patients had no problem with male doctors but when it came to a male nurse? Nooooo way. We are both professionals.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Crusty old bat here..... I LOATHE OB. Hated it back in the dark ages as a student, hated dealing with pregnant patients in any setting. OTOH, I did really enjoy a course on fetal physiology. I took it because I thought maybe I was just 'OB-averse' because I didn't know enough, but that was apparently not the case - LOL.

I have never come across a nurse who didn't have at least one or two types of patients they didn't care for. It's OK. But gender discrimination is never OK. If you encounter it, please report it to the appropriate people.

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A significant problem that I had with patient care, was directly related to how my instructor was handling men in the group. It was only a 6 week rotation and for the first 5 weeks every time she brought us in to a patient's room she would say "This is Bob, he is a nursing student at blah blah, do you mind having a male in the room?" What she should have done was simply state "This is Bob, he is a student from blah blah and will be taking care of you/observing for today." I think on any ward if a patient has an actual problem with their care they are going to be vocal about it, the instructor does not need to offer an invitation for the patient to refuse to have a student in the room.

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