Families requesting no male nurses for their baby.

[theatredork]

In Labor & Delivery I've heard of patients requesting to not have a male as their nurse, which is understandable. Recently, some families in the NICU have requested that their baby not be cared for by a male nurse, and management has granted this request.

While understandable in L&D, I feel like this is discriminatory based on gender, and shouldn't be supported by management in the NICU setting.

Your thoughts?

[Babynurse20]

In many cases, management goes along with these requests to protect the nurse and the hospital from a potential lawsuit. Once the family has made such a request (no matter how unjust that request is), both the hospital and the individual nurse would be at great legal risk should that nurse be assigned to that patient's care. The family would probably be "trigger happy" should anything even slightly undesirable happen to the patient -- and might even sue for emotional distress or even assault for no other reason that the patient was cared for by someone they didn't trust or like.

Whether a jury would side with the patient or with the hospital, you never know ... but regardless of the outcome of the trial, it could result in a long stressful and expensive legal process for all involved. So, many hospitals find it easier just to honor the family's request.

As a nurse, do you really want to risk a lawsuit being filed against you ... or charges filed for assault ... just to make a point?

Do you really think any lawyer would take a suit against a hospital because the family didn't want male nurses? Just another example of kissing families butts to not cause problems...who cares about how the nurses feel, right??

[llg, PhD, RN]

Do you really think any lawyer would take a suit against a hospital because the family didn't want male nurses? Just another example of kissing families butts to not cause problems...who cares about how the nurses feel, right??

The law suit is not filed for that reason ... but the parents' (or patients') anger is the fuel that feeds their decision to file about something else. They file because of a med error, an IV infiltrate, nosocomial infection, etc. Such "little incidents" happen on a regular basis during a hospitalization, but most people accept them and don't file lawsuits. Most people understand that "such things happen," maintain confidence that the hospital and the staff are doing the best they can, and don't raise too big of a fuss about them.

However, a patient/family who is already angry and believes that the hospital is not giving them the type of care they want/need are more likely to respond badly to such an incident and are more likely to file a lawsuit, raise a fuss, demand compensation, etc. The ruckus they make adds to everyone's stress, takes time and attention, and costs a lot of money -- even though most such "complaints" are settled quietly before they actually go to court. Angry families raise a ruckus about these "little incidents" and sometimes require a settlement of some kind to prevent them from causing even more troublesome/expensive trouble. Hospitals often try to minimize these incidents by keeping patients/parents happy when they can. Sometimes, a little accommodation up front can prevent a big mess down the road.

I'm not saying we should always give in to every request. But sometimes, we should acknowledge that the hospital's attempts to mollify a patient/parent is not meant to be insulting to us or hurt the staff in any way -- it is the hospital's attempt to prevent a large ugly problem later by giving in a little on the front end.

[neonatal_icu_rn]

It's a shame that some families have this bias against male nurses. I've only worked with one male nurse in the NICU, and he was amazing with our babies! I just wonder how much the NICU would let the family dictate; we have several male respiratory therapists who work just as closely with our babies as we do. And all of our neos are male, so not wanting a male nurse makes absolutely no sense. We had a mother who had such a long list of nurses she didn't want taking care of her baby that the nurse manager finally had to put an end to it; otherwise, no one would be left!!

[NICU_babyRN, BSN, RN]

If a family doesn't feel comfortable with a male nurse, there should be no questions asked! It's their baby and a long hospital stay for most families. If at all possible, such wishes could be granted. Perhaps it's a religious preference or cultural preference. Regardless, it is not our right to infringe on that if it IS possible to not have a male nurse care for the baby.

[Bortaz, MSN, RN]

If a family doesn't feel comfortable with a male nurse, there should be no questions asked! It's their baby and a long hospital stay for most families. If at all possible, such wishes could be granted. Perhaps it's a religious preference or cultural preference. Regardless, it is not our right to infringe on that if it IS possible to not have a male nurse care for the baby.

Any other groups of nurses you feel they should be able to discriminate against?

[theatredork]

If a family doesn't feel comfortable with a male nurse, there should be no questions asked! It's their baby and a long hospital stay for most families. If at all possible, such wishes could be granted. Perhaps it's a religious preference or cultural preference. Regardless, it is not our right to infringe on that if it IS possible to not have a male nurse care for the baby.

Should the family also have to right to request that a male doctor not take care of their baby as well?

[NICU_babyRN, BSN, RN]

All I am saying is that IF the family's request CAN be honored, then do it! Do you want anxious parents or satisfied parents who are happy with their care? I'm playing Devil's advocate here-I don't personally have a problem with male RNs in the NICU and we have 4 FANTASTIC male nurses who I would have care for my own baby any time-but maybe there is a reason and sometimes it's not in our place to question those requests.

[flowrate]

Should the family also have to right to request that a male doctor not take care of their baby as well?

theatredork....u rise some very good questions.......I'm a student nurse that grads in dec. and i work in the nicu as a tech now and I have my preceptorship ay nyp which I am very very excited about and i have a million an one questions for you since you where once in my position not too long ago.....but im brand new to this site so im not too sure if i can email you or we only can get in contact through here.....so please get back to me as soon as you can

Thank you

[nohika]

All I am saying is that IF the family's request CAN be honored, then do it! Do you want anxious parents or satisfied parents who are happy with their care? I'm playing Devil's advocate here-I don't personally have a problem with male RNs in the NICU and we have 4 FANTASTIC male nurses who I would have care for my own baby any time-but maybe there is a reason and sometimes it's not in our place to question those requests.

I know this thread is old, but I think part of the problem is that once you honor one wish (IE, no male nurses) it brings up - "well, I don't want a black nurse" or "I don't want a nurse with red hair" or whatever. Give them an inch and some families will take a mile, and it becomes impossible to honor all the requests.