Male student enters OB room. What do you think?

Nursing Students Male Students

Published

I was doing my OB clinicals and entered a patient's room to deliver a food tray. Stupid move on my part, but it got me a complaint from the patient and kicked out of my OB class. I'm allowed to repeat next year.

Hindsight is 20/20 and I could have done a whole bunch of things differently. I passed trays the other three days I was there with no issues. I could have asked the aide to help me with passing the trays and asked more details about the patients. I don't even know why the instructors make passing trays such a big issue, but they do. I thought it was my responsibility. I think its stupid to pass trays in RN training. I am not one of these people that thinks certain duties are beneath them, I just don't see the point.

.

Passing trays is important. Each patient has different dietary needs and messing that up can cause huge problems. Think patient who needs nectar thickened liquids receiving a plain glass of ice water, patient who has allergies, patient who is supposed to be fasting. It's important to learn how to pay attention to details. Plus, I hate to break it to you, but you'll be delivering trays as a nurse.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Its not the same thing. You have a long established relationship with your OB. I have been going to mine for 13 years. Also, nurses are the backbone of labor. They are the ones who coach and reassure a laboring woman. My nurses were champs. They were on the same level because they had been there.

I chose my OB for his expertise. I would choose female labor nurses for theirs as well. The difference is theirs is personal. A male nurse can't tell you about his natural labor. A male nurse can't commiserate with you about how breastfeeding sucks. So basically it boils down to wanting someone who knows your pain. Not a man who no matter how much he has read or seen it. will never know it

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Its not the same thing. You have a long established relationship with your OB. I have been going to mine for 13 years. Also, nurses are the backbone of labor. They are the ones who coach and reassure a laboring woman. My nurses were champs. They were on the same level because they had been there.

I chose my OB for his expertise. I would choose female labor nurses for theirs as well. The difference is theirs is personal. A male nurse can't tell you about his natural labor. A male nurse can't commiserate with you about how breastfeeding sucks. So basically it boils down to wanting someone who knows your pain. Not a man who no matter how much he has read or seen it. will never know it

Sounds very logical and and a very unwelcoming environment for any males that dare to enter.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
Its not the same thing. You have a long established relationship with your OB. I have been going to mine for 13 years. Also, nurses are the backbone of labor. They are the ones who coach and reassure a laboring woman. My nurses were champs. They were on the same level because they had been there.

I chose my OB for his expertise. I would choose female labor nurses for theirs as well. The difference is theirs is personal. A male nurse can't tell you about his natural labor. A male nurse can't commiserate with you about how breastfeeding sucks. So basically it boils down to wanting someone who knows your pain. Not a man who no matter how much he has read or seen it. will never know it

Well I didn't & couldn't breast feed so I don't care if a male nurse can't tell me how difficult it is. To me, as long as whatever nurse is next to me is being polite, I don't care if it's a male or female. I don't care if they "know my pain". I just want competent care.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in hospice.
Its not the same thing. You have a long established relationship with your OB. I have been going to mine for 13 years. Also, nurses are the backbone of labor. They are the ones who coach and reassure a laboring woman. My nurses were champs. They were on the same level because they had been there.

I chose my OB for his expertise. I would choose female labor nurses for theirs as well. The difference is theirs is personal. A male nurse can't tell you about his natural labor. A male nurse can't commiserate with you about how breastfeeding sucks. So basically it boils down to wanting someone who knows your pain. Not a man who no matter how much he has read or seen it. will never know it

According to this logic, non cancer victims shouldn't work oncology, those without musculoskeletal problems shouldn't work ortho, etc. Who the heck would work hospice under this paradigm, I wonder!

For all the reasons you claimed to want females, you should choose a female OB. There is still a logical disconnect going on.

PS if your L&D nurses actually coached you, you're blessed. Mine left me alone except to nag me about getting an epidural.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Unfortunately there is a lack of female obs in my area. I went with a midwife but she injured her back halfway through my pregnancy. I loved my OB though. He is a Catholic father with a bunch of kids. He teaches a fertility awareness class and is very leaning toward to holistic side. I preferred that.

My nurses were awesome. I have given birth four times and each time the nurses are what helped me maintain my sanity. Transition went extremely fast with my second child and I lost it. They brought me back.

Birth, IMO, is a different process that death or cancer. Honestly, it is hard to explain to people who don't see it that way. I prefer the experience surrounded by women. If that is not possible I make the best of it, but given the choice, I will go with female.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
I chose my OB for his expertise. I would choose female labor nurses for theirs as well. The difference is theirs is personal. A male nurse can't tell you about his natural labor. A male nurse can't commiserate with you about how breastfeeding sucks. So basically it boils down to wanting someone who knows your pain. Not a man who no matter how much he has read or seen it. will never know it

Having given birth and breastfed a child aren't requirements to work in OB. So, it doesn't matter whether you choose a female nurse or not- there still isn't a guarantee they have personal expertise. However, the nurse who has worked in a specialty for quite some time will have expertise, whether they have personal expertise or not.

I have had a patient who traveled quite a distance in our state to ensure that she would have a female surgeon, female anesthesia provider, and all female staff in an OR for her surgery. That makes sense to me. Being inconsistent with allowing some males with a certain profession and not others doesn't.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
May I ask why? I understand there are still many people who feel this way. I would just like to hear your side about the issue. No judgement and no wrong answer. Thank you!

I'm happy to see people are curious to know, but I will throw another wrench into the conversation. I wouldn't want to go to a female OBGYN. Not going to a female OBGYN probably stems from a female who just graduated from medical school and was going on to residency. Not to bore you with our entire conversation, but we were talking about labor and delivery and her rotation. She is the one that convinced me not to go to a female OBGYN. Her comment to me was "after my rotation in OBGYN, and watching how the female medical students were while a woman was in labor, no comfort to them whatsoever and then watching the male medical students with the women in labor was totally opposite". She said tha the males had more compassion for the women in labor and were able to calm them down more so than the women medical students. She went on to say a few more things, but she ended the conversation that she would never go to a female OBGYN. Granted, that doesn't answer the question on why I am okay with male doctors, but not okay with male nurses. That's really hard to say. It's a number of reasons. I know the hospital I had surgery (my husband works there). I've seen some of the male nurses throughout the years and they were not impressive to me. Granted, I will say there were some female nurses not very impressive either. When I delivered my first child, my husband told me there was a male ob tech. I also refused him. He didn't have an RN or MD behind his name, just tech. I will refuse nurse practitioners, as well as physician assistants and I have. I went in to the doctors for my yearly and a woman walked in and said to me "I'm Jane and I will be doing your exam today, helping out Dr Joe". I noticed on her badge, she was a PA. I replied "no you are not". She repeated herself several times, as I repeated my answer back. Finally, she said "so you don't want me to do your exam". I replied "if you don't have an MD behind your name, you are not touching me. The three MD's that I had in surgery with me I selected them knowing about their experience. The surgeon was the best in the area. My personal MD was with me through the entire procedure and I knew the anesthesiologist and was comfortable. There is a better outcome when a patient is comfortable with a procedure/surgery. All female nurses helped with my comfort level, as well as having my MD in surgery with me. I guess growing up where nurses were women and not men has stayed with me. As well as, there were very few women doctors compared to today. I never said the male nurses were not good nurses, I just did NOT want a male nurse during my kind of surgery. I know some surgeons have their own assistants and if he had a male assistant who was not an MD, I would have refused. If the surgeon would not like my request, I would have found another surgeon. I guess I prefer a male with an MD behind his name than an RN behind his name. I honestly didn't want anyone else in the room, but my three MD's. To me it's a private issue, but I do understand there needs to be nurses in the room and it's my choice so I wanted female nurses. I'm past the age of a colonoscopy and I haven't refused the test, but I want it done my way. No assistants in the room, no sedation and only my MD and the MD who will do the test. I know it can be done my way, just been waiting several years for it to take place. In reading many articles and asking a lot of MDs throughout the country, my request is not unusual and very reasonable. I had a small list of requests for this surgery and with my fear of being put to sleep, I was thrilled to find out surgery could be done with an epidural/spinal. I also did not want any sedation to relax me. When I told the surgeon that I didn't want any sedation, his response to me was "you're crazy". My response to him was "I may be crazy, but it's my choice"!!!! That is the only way to have surgery. I loved it. I was scared to death, but I am confident that I made the right decision not to have sedation and be awake and could talk to my MD and listen to what was taking place. I was relaxed. Once surgery started and I'm sure it had to do with the spinal/epidural, but my BP dropped from 160/92 to 127/78. My doctor jokingly said "we need to numb you more often". It was very interesting what goes on during surgery. I learned a lot. I'm glad that I have that choice to decide what takes place with my health. I had several appts with my doctor and one of them was listing the pros and cons to have surgery or not.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

You DO know that you are the exact patient that nurses roll their eyes about behind your back and you are the topic of conversation at the nurses station, and not in a good way. Tell yourself whatever you'd like, but clinicians do not enjoy taking care of you and your demands---and anyone here who tells you that they welcome a patient such as yourself is telling you a big fat whopper.

I'm also willing to bet that more than one server has possibly spit in your dinner order before it was delivered to the table...[

QUOTE=hayest;8489176]I agree, if I was the woman in labor, I would also get upset. I recently had surgery and a month ahead of time I called the hospital with a few requests. My requests were NO Male Nurses, No Students, No Representatives in the room. I asked for the least amount of people in the room. The only men allowed were the surgeon, my doctor and the anesthesiologist. My requests were honored. I was pleased. I actually was awake with no sedation so I knew what was going on. I did have an epidural/spinal. I could not see everything, but my doctors had orders from me that if they saw a male walk in, they were to kick him out. I had to spend an extra night in the hospital and they had to move me to a different unit due to some complications. I made sure the nursing who was calling over to transfer me knew I did not want any male nurses. Back to the post --- I would be upset too.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
You DO know that you are the exact patient that nurses roll their eyes about behind your back and you are the topic of conversation at the nurses station, and not in a good way. Tell yourself whatever you'd like, but clinicians do not enjoy taking care of you and your demands---and anyone here who tells you that they welcome a patient such as yourself is telling you a big fat whopper.

I'm also willing to bet that more than one server has possibly spit in your dinner order before it was delivered to the table...[

That is totally fine with me, they can talk all they want! I can talk about them just as much! Everyone has their opinion and besides caring for a patient, it's the nurses and MD's responsibility to make sure that patient is comfortable and relaxed. I didn't demand anything, I asked if my requests could be honored and they were. I asked several months in advanced once the date was scheduled when may I call back to go over what my requests were. The patient advocate took my requests and made it happen. I also talked with a manager at one of the surgi-centers close by and she said my requests were not unusual and their facility receives them all the time. In fact, she even mentioned that when patients request a certain gender, they will even cover the windows to the OR room. It's not just woment who request, but men request all male nurses too. When I was told my request would be honored, I was pleased. I thanked everyone I saw that day and after. My nurses on the floor were amazing. I even told them they didn't need to worry about me because I will not be a bother. All the nurses that took care of me have received flowers and baked goods. I didn't know the nurses who were actually in the OR room, but I sent baked goods to them thanking them for their service. I also sent the CNO of the hospital a letter thanking her for the care I received from the preop nurse, OR nurses to the nurses on the floor. I gave the names that I knew and told her she could probably look up the names who were in OR. Only two OR nurses actually introduced themselves to me.

So let them roll their eyes and talk behind my back. As you indicated that you were willing to bet that servers have spit in my food, I'm willing to bet that there are nurses, MD's, and administrators/directors of hospitals who have the same requests that I did. I know for a fact with some of the nurses who I have talked with indicated how they have requested certain nurses for their surgery or care. Several MDs too. I was raised to respect the medical profession, but it goes both ways, the medical profession needs to respect the patient too.

Below is what I found on the hospital's website, as well as the websites for the other 9 hospitals in the area.

[COLOR=#000000][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000]Considerateand Respectful Care[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#000000][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000]•To receiveethical, high-quality, safe and professional care without discrimination[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#000000][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000]•To be freefrom all forms of abuse and harassment[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#000000][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000]•To betreated with consideration, respect and recognition of their individuality,including the need for privacy in treatment. This includes the right to requestthe facility provide a person of one's own gender to be present during certainparts of physical examinations, treatments or procedures performed by a healthprofessional of the opposite sex, except in emergencies, and the right not toremain undressed any longer than is required for accomplishing the medicalpurpose for which the patient was asked to undress[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#000000][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000] [/COLOR]

[COLOR=#000000][/COLOR]

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

hayest, isn't there a website more tailored to your livelihood that you can descend upon? You've stated you're not a nurse or in any way a healthcare provider, you're a demanding layperson with very pronounced prejudices against people based solely on the way they look. I'm not sure why you are continually allowed to post on this site.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
hayest, isn't there a website more tailored to your livelihood that you can descend upon? You've stated you're not a nurse or in any way a healthcare provider, you're a demanding layperson with very pronounced prejudices against people based solely on the way they look. I'm not sure why you are continually allowed to post on this site.

I agree. If you don't like nurses/MAs/healthcare professionals (which you have made blatantly obvious) why are you still on this website? Stop posting & bashing us. I know there can be healthcare providers that don't do their job well but that is not well, but this is not the forum for you. This forum is called AllNURSES. If you have nothing positive to add, then why are you still on this board?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment