OB Rotation is Hell

I had the exact same problem in my ob rotation! It's not so much the birthing mothers that cared if I was there to watch, the husbands/boyfriends usually objected. I'm a young guy, so obviously that had a huge impact on the way I was treated. Fortunately my ob instructor was very accomodating, and she even warned me that this would probably happen. So, she tried to find me alternate assignments, and if that didn't work, I just read charts all freaking day in the nursing station. But really, they can not fail you because the patients aren't comfortable with a male nurse. So attempt to be proactive, but if you're shot down, then to heck with them I say!

I only have 4 more clinical days left! What a horrible experience...
I was not allowed to watch a vag birth (only c-section) and I had to defer parts of my assessment. I think it should be up to the pt, weather or not they want a guy performing a full assessment on them. When I had med/surg the female RN students didn't go through this. The pts are fine, the babies are fine...the RNs who work on this unit make it very clear that we are not wanted. Except when muscle is needed. It's ok, just wait until I fill out my evaluation.
My highlight...when I left the pt's bedside and the female RN pulled the drape and whispered to me "you can leave now". Before I left the room I heard the pt say "did he leave yet? I had a question for the Dr."

Man - I must have lucked out. Three of the five nursing students in my rotation were guys. I figured since I was at a small community hospital we wouldn't see anything. Just the opposite! There were no refusals and I saw a ton of v and c deliveries. Very cool experience overall. The funny thing was that some of the nurses said they would never let a guy work there. I suppose some people believe sexism is the way to go.

I'm in grad school now and I have another OB rotation coming up next fall. Let's hope I have the same good luck with patients.

-S

I'm one of 2 guys in my class and we're both 41. It's just luck of the draw, in our L&D rotation there wasn't 1 baby born! There were 6 laboring mothers, and 4 allowed us in the room ... although 1 of mine (17yo) suddenly got shy... Her mom said "shoulda shown some modesty 9 months ago", I had to look away to not show my smirk. I did respect her privacy but, did stay to observe and assist the RN just avoided being right in the business.
The RN was great, she verbally walked me through each and every process in text book fashion.
I don't understand it, everyone wants the best trained but then isn't willing to allow students (male or female).

I'm currently in the middle of my OB rotation and its been easy sailing so far. The instructor is giving me this vibe that she doesn't expect much from me when it comes to the care of the LD and MB client since I am a guy. However, I would just advise that the best way to go is to put aside any emotional gender issues and keep the client care in mind. For me I'm just ignoring the fact that I'm a guy during the rotation and focusing on the aspect of being the best caregiver that I can be. Getting over this OB hump is definitely going to secure or at least improve the "maleness" in this nursing field.

My last OB/Gyn rotation as a student was over 20 years ago, but the scars remain...

I can laugh now, but being a 19 yr old baby faced student probably made things that much worse for my patients in our small community hospital.

The upside was that the rotation was split in two: 1/2 was spent on the floor with the moms, and the other 1/2 was in the nursery and L&D, which was great.
I had to do 2 rotations: a 2 week rotation and a 6 week rotation. The first rotation went by pretty quickly; I had a clinical instructor that felt my pain and took me under her wing, and made it more tolerable for everyone. I almost enjoyed it. Almost.
My 6 week rotation was hell; my instructor verbalized her distaste for men in nursing to begin with, was more critical of our performance and actually went out of her way to intimidate us and generally make our lives miserable. I loved the L&D and working with the newborns for the first 3 weeks - I had decided then that I wanted to work in a neonatal ICU. Then came working on the floor with the moms...I actually called in sick for several days, probably about 5, just beacause I was so stressed, and when the rotation was over, right before the Christmas break, I was given an incomplete because of my missed days and told that I could pass the rotation IF I made up all my missed time...over the Christmas holidays. So, bad news: a week on OB with just me and my clinical instructor. The good news? My clinical instructor would be the one I had for my original 2 week rotation and it actually went okay - the staff knew why I was making up my time and helped me out, and it was actually really slow on the floor, and I survived.

I never did persue my original desire for neonatal care and actually ended up at the opposite end of the spectrum in long term care!

My husband was stuck sitting at the nursing station for his spin through OB/Peds (OB part). Not a single patient was willing to have him around even to empty trash! However, he did a lot of baby rocking. He was actually better at that than the girls. I think it's the deep voice. Babies seem to love it. He didn't mind missing out, though. He would have liked to skip our son's birth but the Doc wouldn't let him leave!

Shouldn't this be our focus everyday?

This whole male/female thing becomes more and more frustrating every day.
I'm 6'3", I am used to reaching to get things that are too high for others, but I don't expect the 4'11" classmate to pick up the mess up off of the floor (she is closer).
We all have talents and abilities that need to be developed, which is why we are in school. For your instructor to "give you a vibe" that she has lower expectations is not right, does she lower the expectations for the woman student that has to place a foley in a male patient?

Separate standards for male and female students is not fair to any one, especially those who will be in your care in the future.

I hated psyche. I hate psyche. I just can't stand psyche.

Just wanted to return to the thread with an update. I had a great day in L&D today. My nurse just about grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and shoved me in the pt's crotch and had me do the vaginal exam, start the foley, remove the foley, hold the pt's leg while she was pushing, give the Vit K shot, just about everything we can do I did.

She made a point of selling the patient on having me do what I could. The pt didn't have a problem at all, the pt's husband was there and was fine with me being there, it was great.

No uncomfortableness at all from anyone. That ward is going to get a great review from me. Tomorrow's my last day, so tonight I'm going to write up a nice letter for that nurse and show her some appreciation for being so accommodating to me.

Nevertheless, during post conference, the two female students that went to couplet care (where my fellow male classmate and I were snubbed pretty hard) were encouraged to take care of the patient and were taught... well I guess I have no idea what they were taught.