Are you man Enough to be a OB nurse?

bones221 · Feb 23, 2007

ummmm.......no.

omniverseking · Feb 23, 2007

I am not ready for that either.....I guess you ask that to a male ob-gyne doctors. if they can do it as their specialty in medicine. i think they can also do that as their specialty in nursing.I guess many of us are man enough to be an ob-gyne nurse. There are a lot of ob-gyne doctors nowadays, surely, there will also be a lot of male ob nurse soon. It is just that there are a lot of nursing specialties and most of us would just rather specialised on some that when ask if they can do it they can easily answer yes without a little hesitation.

EricJRN, MSN, RN · Feb 23, 2007

For men interested in maternal-child, NICU and NBN are good options, IMHO. There still aren't all that many of us though.

jthewood · Feb 23, 2007

I have two kids at home and I can't imagine why anyone would choose to spend more time around someone elses kids!

Just kidding, but no OB for me. I'd rather work in an area without the constant question of how I'll be received by patients. Not my problem per se, but a problem nonetheless.

NurseDaddy2006 · Feb 24, 2007

I'm man enough.

Some say too much.

Expressing interest in that area raised eyebrows and wrinkled egos.

Yet, on the flip side, this time around (my second time rotating through OB), I kept my mouth shut the whole time and got nothing but comments about how I seemed to be so comfortable in that area, "you know, for a guy". I just politely grinned and kept my opinion to myself. People can keep the backhanded remarks coming. I don't care.

I *used* to want to go into OB. Not any more. Wrong place for me.

I don't want to get into an area where people will tell me they don't want me as their nurse because of my gender. It happened one day, and it did not bother me much, but I don't need that kind of thing hindering my work, or my progression through the field, and adding to the interpersonal co-worker problems that could arise as a result of people having to do stuff my patient does not want ME to do. That would get old quick.

Annointed_RNStudent · Feb 24, 2007

I'm man enough.
Some say too much.
Expressing interest in that area raised eyebrows and wrinkled egos.
Yet, on the flip side, this time around (my second time rotating through OB), I kept my mouth shut the whole time and got nothing but comments about how I seemed to be so comfortable in that area, "you know, for a guy". I just politely grinned and kept my opinion to myself. People can keep the backhanded remarks coming. I don't care.
I *used* to want to go into OB. Not any more. Wrong place for me.
I don't want to get into an area where people will tell me they don't want me as their nurse because of my gender. It happened one day, and it did not bother me much, but I don't need that kind of thing hindering my work, or my progression through the field, and adding to the interpersonal co-worker problems that could arise as a result of people having to do stuff my patient does not want ME to do. That would get old quick.

I wouldn't give up on OB just because of a few wrinkled egos, and patients request. What male nurses dont' seem to understand is that these things can happen with patients on any floor, and they happen on all floors, I have seen it happen on Med-Surg, ER, OR etc. Now with that being said, someone has to pave the way and change the stereotype about men in OB nursing, which is why I'm going full force. However I will say this, after doing mentorship at Community Hospital, I would NEVER EVER consider doing OB in a small rural or community hospital....~ Sorry you had that experience~

azhiker96, BSN, RN · Feb 27, 2007

I had OB clinicals at two different facilities. At the first, staff was reluctant to let me do almost anything. At the second, I had no problems, assisted in two vag deliveries, and was recruited heavily by staff. One of the staff nurses commented on how comfortable the patients were with me. However, I don't plan on going into OB because I hate that our society requires a chaperone if I do a vag exam. Female nurses aren't required to get a chaperone when they cath a male but to protect myself I'd better have one when I cath a female. Oh well, there are lots of areas of nursing where I can make a difference.

Medwynn · Mar 3, 2007

Sorry. Never had the slightest interest to want to be in OB.

psychonaut · Mar 3, 2007

I found my OB clinical to be both fascinating and incredibly productive. First (and only, to date) IV, first (and only, to date) two foleys, assessments for both adults (mothers) and infants, observed a c-sec, etc. Didn't get to see a birth (vag) unfortunately.

I give a huge amount of credit for this great experience to there being two fantastic nurse mentors to work with in that L&D dept. They made no bias against my gender, and clearly expected that I didn't, either. I wish I had such great educator-nurses in all of my other clinicals!

I'm really leaning towards NICU, so I guess I will still be involved with L&D to some degree.

kakalika · Mar 3, 2007

I don't think female nurses are comfortable working with males in OB.

Scrubz · Mar 9, 2007

Sorry. Never had the slightest interest to want to be in OB.

Agreed.. In fact I'm taking an OB class and it's just not my thing. I guess I can put up with the class though, although I'd rather use this time and take a pharmacology class instead because in the end it would be more helpful to me, but that's not the way nursing school works I guess.. Maybe it'll help me on the NCLEX? If I even get any OB questions that is..

I mean, sometimes it's heptic enough being that I'm the only guy in my class, but now I'm the only guy in my class surrouned by an all female nursing staff taking care of pregnant and postmortem women!!!! :uhoh21: