More male nurses

[ayndim]

The thread on transvestite nursing student got me thinking. And as I have a report coming up I thought I might do it on male nurses in l&d.

How many of you work with male nurses in L&D? Are the moms generally accepting of them?

Some years ago I did a paper on gender inequalities and found that the law actually permits l&d to discriminate against male nurses in l&d. Is that still true?

I personally can't see why women who have a male dr would mind a male nurse. For personal reasons I will have neither. But what about any ladies here who have male drs. Are you okay with male nurses?

Any male l&d nurses here? Have you ever had a mom ask you to get a female nurse instead. How did you feel? Were you offended or did you just consider it a pts right. No different than a pt not liking you because you had a mole on your nose sort of thing. What about dads? What do you do when a mom or dad asks for a female nurse?

On the flip side, are there any ladies here who don't like female drs and are glad that more male nurses are working in l&d so that they can have a male nurse? I do know one person who hates female obs and was glad her nurse was male.

[tmiller027]

tmiller, VERY true! My brother-in-law is working on his nurse practitioner degree. Awesome, respectable job for anyone of any gender! If you did that (which of course, you don't have to...RN is a great title by itself) you would still be in your 30s. Woohoo!

I'm still up in the air on the NP thing. I'm not sure how much theyr'e allowed to do in Indiana and if the pay justifies the cost. I have thought of law school though and doing healthcare consulting.

[Dayray, RN]

I am man and I work L&D.

We are pretty rare, I've know 2 other in RL and have met 3 here on the board.

Yes I have had a few patients ask for a female nurse. Has happened only once in the past year but used to happen allot because the other nurses would tell the patients they should refuse me.

As for how it made me feel? well as a nurse I believe patents have the right to ask for a different care giver no matter what the reason (even if I don't agree with that reason). I dont think they should be made to feel bad when they ask for a female.

On a more personal side, when I used to get asked it would worry me that other nurses would complain or see me as unable to carry my own weight but that was when I was working with a very unfriendly staff. Now that I work with great people I wouldn't worry about that and it happens so rarely. The biggest thing I remember was this irrational flush of embarrassment, even though I had done nothing wrong it would make me feel as if I had just done something wrong.

No matter how it made me feel my response was always the same I just say "okay let me go get you another nurse" I don't respond too any explanations other then to just smile and say "ok".

Most patents don't bat an eye when i walk in the room, they don't know that male L&D nurses are unusual. Sometimes I sense a little hesitance when i first walk in the room but it goes away pretty fast. I've been at it a while and am carfule to do my job without embarrassing my patients, Its all about your attitude and the way you interact with people.

I am however careful about walking into other nurses rooms, sometimes I get pulled into a bad delivery and I don't like that, it's not the same as it is with my patients because they haven't had time to get comfortable with me and I don't think thats fair to them.

For the most part the no men in L&D thing is a nursing issue. I have had more trouble from nurses then I can possibly relate. As I mentioned before I now work with a great staff and don't have any problems from them but when I meet other nurses I still get all the uncomfortable questions and sometimes hostile rebukes when i tell them where I work.

As for patients I sometimes get asked the "Do you have kids?" question which is actually code for "are you gay?". It doesnt really bother me anymore and I suspect that more then a few think I am gay even though they don't ask and I just let them go right ahead and think it lol.

Mostly though I get lots of compliments on my care and get cards all the time. when I run into patients around town they come up and tell about their baby and gush about how much they liked my care.

All in all it comes down to being a good nurse which has nothing to do with gender. nursing, however is one of the last professions to retain 1900's stereotypes and the saddest part is that there are many nurses that want to keep it that way.

I don't care what other nurses think. I know that my patients are well cared for and happy and I absolutely love taking care of them.

If you want more information for your report feel free to PM me I'd love to help.

[ATB]

Male L & d nurse? Had one 11 years ago with my last baby and was initially surprised. He actually came into my room, post delivery, to check me. I didn't know who he was so I just said "hi". He told me he was there to check me and I said "check what?" I guess I didn't read his name tag to notice he was the RN on duty. Brain had checked out after that delivery! I remember he paused to wait for my "okay" , and I can admit that I did feel a tad, well almost embarrassed. You know, sitting on that side of the bed, with all the post delivery mess, can make the bravest gal feel edgy. Did HE really want to view this? ( By the way, my OB was a female, handpicked from many candidates!) So this was a switch, a male RN. He came equipped with a good sense of humor, did his exam with care, and had comforting eye contact. No rushing. His confidence is what sold me, no nervousness. That was one thing I remember. Perhaps my perspective will help the males out there, or those doing research.

[SmilingBluEyes]

most places I have worked the ER and CCU/ICU is where you see the most male nurses. Just seems they like the high-energy atmosphere these areas provide much of the time.

[Diaphoretic]

I am a male nurse and the only bias I ever encountered was in L&D. They had me go in supervised with a female nurse to do postpartum assessments etc. I thought the whole thing was very funny because I believe that no matter what gender you are you should maintain a good bedside manner and when you are assessing the amount of lochia on a brief / pad then in most mens eyes sex is the farthest thing from their mind. I know it was the farthest thing from mine... .......... silly things we must live with.

[Diaphoretic]

I forgot to add this was in my clinicals.

[oldiebutgoodie, RN]

When I was giving birth, I really didn't care WHO was taking care of me! They could have been green with 15 arms, as far as I was concerned.

oldiebutgoodie

[rpbear]

We have two male RN's on our L&D floor. They are both great! One works mostly triage and maternal special care, the other is a relief charge nures and a floor nurse. I have never seen them run into any problems with patients. They are both very caring and respectful of the women and thier husbands. I would have no problem having either of them care for someone I know. Having them care for me may be a little strange since I would still have to work with them.

I don't see why it should be an issue since there are so many male MD's. If I didn't have to work with the guy I would have no problem having a male RN or MD care for me.

[cabbage patch rn]

One situation where I can imagine being slightly uncomfortable with a male nurse is if I found him attractive

I say bring 'em on, the hotter the better! :rotfl: No, seriously, I didn't have a male nurse with any of my own births, but would have been fine with it. I was more modest with my first 2 and chose a female ob doc with them, but my last ob was male and it was by far the best experience of all...of course by that time, I could have cared less if they sold tickets for the event.

What about female urologists? Any thoughts?

[breastfeedingRN]

i would personally ask for a female nurse. having a hx of sexual abuse, i have never had a male doctor for OB/GYN stuff. i had a hard time picking the midwife group i went with because the only docs on staff are male and if something went wrong, i would have the doc. luckily nothing went wrong that required a doc.

i know some women prefer male docs and think they might prefer a male nurse?

as for male nurses in general, all the ones i have ever met were awesome. one of my best clinical experiences in nursing school was with a male nurse in ICU. he was so helpful and taught me a lot in that 12 hour shift. he made me feel confident and never made me feel dumb if i couldn't answer a question. wish all nurses were like he was. i think it is sad that male nurses/nursing students are treated differently sometimes. just because you are female doesn't mean you can be a good nurse.

when i worked as a registration clerk in an ER for awhile during nursing school, i met some great male nurses as well. they were always respectful to me even though i was just the registration clerk and many of the female nurses were snotty to me.

[danu3]

...

What about female urologists? Any thoughts?

If I need to see an urologist, I really don't care if the person is male or female, white, black, brown, yellow, or green, has hair or no hair, a 8 foot giant or a 3 foot midget... I just want someone who knows what they are doing and good bedside manner and get me out of the health mess I am in.

-Dan

[mshultz]

What about female urologists? Any thoughts?

Prior to ending up in the ED, followed by the Critical Care Unit for a GI bleed, I would have said no to having a female doctor, let alone a urologist. Although I have yet to be treated by a female doctor, my hospital experience with female nurses broadened my horizons. I would not have a problem with a female urologist.