Gay male nurses?

Nurses Men

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Hey, I'm going into a nusing program and I'm a gay male and I've had some concerns reading some of these posts. I know I want this as a career and I'm not going to look into a new profession but theres still lingering issues. I know males have to cover their @ss's when dealing with female patients because they are male. And because I'm gay I can only imagine I have to cover my ass with dealing with male patients too. But I mean I cant exactly have someone tailing me all day long at the hospital and I cant very well strap a camera to my head for evidence I did nothing wrong. It's really concerning me though, I mean im not really sure what to do and i want to stay in this field. I guess I'm just getting over worried but some of these posts are kind of O_O..... for lack of better words. Anyone have any advice or maybe some storys they could tell to help me feel better or get rid of some of this concern?

speaking strictly from the perspective of a patient...I have enough on my mind...I DO NOT want to discuss your sexual preferences...I DO NOT want to discuss anything about any nurses sex life.. I do not want to be told about it.... keep it in your bedroom and not in my hospital room. I have enough of my mind if I am in the hospital..like...do I want you as a nurse based on whether you seem competent or not.(making an issue of your sexuality is a great reason to refuse any treatment from you..that goes for gay ,straight..whatever)

So your sexuality ...has nothing to do with what your duties are.

Like I said, if I am in the hospital..it means I am in bad shape..I don't think your private life is of any to interest me... Sex or sexuality needs to be left somewhere else..do not bring it to my room.

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Specializes in Agency, ortho, tele, med surg, icu, er.

never had a problem except when thier was a patient who accused all men of abuse because she was a psych patient with issues.

Ive been a nurse for 4 years, cna for 5 years. never had an issue. Biggest issue you will have is a little old lady who doesnt want you to put them on a bedpan because your a man. Which is funny because I always wonder how they delivered babys or had gyno exams when they were young.

If you suspect an issue may occure, just have another nurse with you.

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Specializes in Telemetry, Med-Surg, ED, Psych.

Do your job and be a professional. Just bacause you are gay doesn't mean that you need to CYA more with male patients....the is NOTHING sexual about the nursing profession.....foleys, GI bleeds, vomit...thats hardly my idea of a good time!

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Specializes in Management, Emergency, Psych, Med Surg.

I have always had gay friends in nursing. The ED where I worked was one of the largest in the country and we had lots of male nurses, both straight and gay. It was a fun time for all. I loved it.

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I'm a straight male and I want to be an LPN. I do not think you should worry about your orentation though. Just get through nursing school and things when people flirt with their patients and patients flirt with the nurse never happens. Don;t worry, everything will be fine.

:)

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. .

If you suspect an issue may occure, just have another nurse with you.

I see the above response in many quotes here on allnurses.

Wouldn't it be easier to just trade patients with another nurse?? :twocents:

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what if the patient is the one with the problem?if they (for some reason) find out that the nurse that's been taking care of them is gay?What if they label you as being unprofessional just because you're gay/lasbian?

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Specializes in midwifery, ophthalmics, general practice.
what if the patient is the one with the problem?if they (for some reason) find out that the nurse that's been taking care of them is gay?What if they label you as being unprofessional just because you're gay/lasbian?

in 30 years as a nurse, I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times thats happened. Patients on the whole dont care if you are gay/straight/black/white/orange/green etc.. they DO care that you can do your job professionally. I'm wiccan.. so far no-one has threatened to burn me at the stake.. the patients I care for are only interested in my professional skills and my ablility to get them better and back to work.

anyway.. I was always taught to leave personal stuff at the door when you go to work.. patients have enough problems of their own without a nurse adding his or her own problems to the mix!

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

I echo the posts of the other users when I say that your sexual orientation has nothing to do with the care you provide to your patients as a nurse. In a professional setting your sexual orientation or any other aspect of your personal life should not be discussed with patients because it is unnecessary and does not contribute to the therapeutic nurse-patient relationship. That being said if a patient does begin asking you person questions I would recommend that you politely remind the patient that the focus is on them and their healing and not you as the nurse. I've found that when you answer invasive personal questions like that most patients often take the hint and will respect you more because they understand where your focus lies. As far as the male or female patient situation goes I have found that for the most part most patients aren't too concerned with the race or gender of their practitioner and as long as you remain professional and do everything that you can to help maintain the patients dignity and privacy then they will respect you immensely. I have had a few female patients who weren't comfortable with having a male practitioner but after I demonstrated that I was committed to provide them with the best care possible they had actually requested that I was their CNA. You will on occasion have a patient request to have a different CNA or nurse etc. and the best you can do is try to switch with another CNA or nurse. The thing to remember is that its not all about us as practitioners its about the patient, sometimes they have had traumatic situations that make them uncomfortable with a health care practitioner of a certain gender or race and while we might be offended at first we have to remember its about the patient and their needs. As far as the need to CYA I think that if your responsible about it and use common sense then you will be fine. You don’t need a chaperone to watch you take a blood pressure or give a patient an insulin injection but I would say that if your inserting a catheter into a female patient having a chaperone would be a good CYA measure. The truth is that you really have to gauge it on each patient you meet, I’ve had patients who are in such pain that they don’t care who you are or what your into as long as you help them and then I’ve had patients who think that they are in a hotel and every aspect of their hospital stay needs to be up to their specifications (including meal times, medication times, room layout and who takes care of them.) As you go along you will learn what CYA measures you need to do and when you need to do them. If nursing is what you really want to do then go for it. Good luck!

!Chris :specs:

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People are usually took sick too care what orientation you are. Shouldn't be a problem unless you enlist in the armed forces.

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Specializes in Telemetry & Obs.

Don't be flaming ;)

Seriously, I've never seen sexual orientation be a problem at work unless the nurse made it a problem.

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Specializes in PACU, ED.
what if the patient is the one with the problem?if they (for some reason) find out that the nurse that's been taking care of them is gay?What if they label you as being unprofessional just because you're gay/lasbian?

I've never seen this in my area but I have seen patients at odds with their nurse for whatever reason. We assign a different nurse to help defuse the situation. Proactively, if we think there could be a problem, we take that into consideration when assigning a nurse.

For example, I (male) requested that I not be assigned a 10yr old female who was in surgery for repair of a lady partsl tear. Considering her psycosocial level and not knowing the background of how the tear was sustained, my CM agreed that it made sense to have a female nurse recover the patient. (Side note, it was a fall on playground equipment that caused a superficial tear.) I'm sure the patient was more comfortable having a female nurse assess her bandage than a male.

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