This is my second semester of the nursing program and this semester we're doing OB/Newborn and peds. Now, as a young (22 y/o) African American male, I feel as though I'm gonna be the "odd one out" per se. I've never had to get intimate and close with women in that way before. To be honest, the only time I usually do deal with women intimately is if I'm going to have sex with them (excuse me if that's not tactful).
What are some things I can do to to convince my future patients AND their families that I AM doing this from a professional standard and trying to be "perv" or anything like that? It's the only thing that's freaking me out... which is the possibility of one my patients or patients families crying sexual harassment or making me feel unwelcome. Like should I have another female witness in the room whenever I'm doing intimate exams?
My newborn clinicals where the easiest! I usually just stayed with my instructor all day since I couldn't be assigned to a patient. She usually had me stay in the nursery doing newborn's first bath and immunizations. The rest of the time I was just observing. I watched a few circumcisions, a few cesarean deliveries, and one lady partsl delivery.
Anytime that she tried to get me to go into a room to do a patient assessment, I would walk in and get "that look" from the mom. I just walked right back out and told my instructor "she gave me the look" and she would find me something else to do, lol.
I'm really a med-surg person and I can't see myself doing anything BUT med-surg after graduation, but working with newborns for a few weeks was a great experience. You'll probably end up liking it more than you anticipate :)
In my OB rotation (granted, this was back in the Dark Ages :)), the male students did everything that the rest of us did. The only issue would be if a particular client refused to have a male student assigned -- two of the male students in our class were in my clinical group, and I don't recall hearing anything about anyone refusing to have them assigned during our rotation.
We did not do any lady partsl exams. We did participate in lady partsl deliveries and c-sections, and provide PP care, some of which was somewhat personal.
If you present yourself as competent and professional, people will probably be comfortable. If you act like you're uncomfortable with the situation, families will pick up on that and become uncomfortable, also.
The males in my program were afforded all the same opportunities in clinicals that the females did. In my group, 3 of our 8 students were male so I heard plenty of perspectives.
We got to assist in lady partsl delivery to the extent of either holding a leg and helping to coach (I would smile and say "great job, good push" etc while she was pushing), or simply observing. While in OR for c-sections, you may have had the chance to "catch" a baby, cath the patient prior to incisions, and observe an epidural insertion, all great things. In the nursery, I did plenty of vitals, diaper changes, administered Vitamin K and Hepatitis B vaccines as well as the erythromycin eye drops, formula feeding, weighing, baths, and even got to observe a baby receiving phototherapy due to jaundice. On mother/baby, felt funduses, did vitals/assessments with mom and baby, and lots of education. It was nice at my site to see how the different services were used, such as social workers, lactation consultants, and pastoral care.
This will not apply to every hospital of course but this past semester there were two gentlemen in my maternity clinical group and patients declined them all the time. And some of the refusals came from the husbands, not just from the mommies.
They were able to observe in NICU but that was it. Our instructor gave them alternative assignments but they were grateful that the rotation was only for 5 weeks.
I'm not that young, but I fully hope to be boycotted from OB/Gyne.
That said, I've delivered (read: caught) a baby in the bathroom of a trailer house before, and I've seen my share of genitals. I'm ok with being banned from clinicals, lol.
I've also seen both a c-section and a tubal ligation. That's sufficient in my book.
If you walk into the room with the mindset that you belong there & are there to help the patient, the patient will pick up on it. I think you're focusing too much on the negative. You're a nursing student, and that's the only important thing. Stay focused on the tasks at hand, just as you would in your other rotations.
I did my rotation the odd one out in my class -- in my 30s but happily childless. I knew NOTHING about kids. It was very strange for me to have to interact with newborns or young kids. For someone who has never spent any time with kids, they may as well have been some sort of exotic animal. And since I'd never been pregnant, the first time I saw a birth, I was really shocked/confused/unprepared. The happy "miracle of life" type movies do NOT prepare you for birth. However, all that being said, as long as I acted the part of someone who was there trained & ready to help, nobody knew I had never changed a diaper before. If I can fool them into thinking I knew what the heck I was doing when I interacted with these strange miniature people (infants & toddlers LOL), anyone can!
Specializes in Family Practice, Urgent Care, Cardiac Ca.
As a dude myself, I had similar thoughts going into it, and learned that it was all about how you carried yourself. I was SUPER respectful and humble, and also cognizant of the stereotype that L&D nurses are very territorial. I actually developed a good rapport with many moms, and got to see a lot, and learned a ton! It's all about how you carry yourself as a guy.
What you can expect is to mainly observe, and not get a lot of hands-on experience, at least in L&D.
Unless you have my instructor, in which case you ARE going to examine cesarean incisions, check fundal firmness, lochia flow, and breasts/breastfeeding.
Oh please ... I've read worse. People need to lighten up about SEX around here.
I had to read this a couple of times, because at first read it sounded bad, but now I see you forgot to include a crucial "not" in there ...
Best advice has been offered by others, and even by you yourself: always insist on a female staff member being present with you whenever you conduct an intimate exam or procedure. Good practice to start as a student and carrying into your nursing career.
I was 27 during OB, and in my clinical group of 8 people, 2 of us were male. It made it easy to almost always have a female present, because as a student, in a field I'm not super-knowledgeable in, I typically had the primary RN, my instructor, or another student with me and we assisted each other. Now, sometimes the other person was my male colleague, and that was fine with me - in my mind, a man makes just as reliable of a witness as a woman, and I apply that to work 100%.
They are right that some of the opposition you might face will be from the dads, but I can tell you how to turn that around... Relate to dad man to man. He's scared to death, even if this isn't his first kid, and if you figure most of the people he's interacted with during the pregnancy have been women, moms, female nurses, etc, all of whom were probably raised with childcare on the brain, he might appreciate a bit of support for himself. Don't try and talk him into it though - dads are just as entitled to their feelings as moms, but do let it be known that you can relate to the enigma of a human coming from "there."
Also, once the babies are born, you'll be able to help the dads understand about hygiene for female neonates, and you'll be able to help the moms relate to hygiene for male and female neonates. I was doing the first diaper change with a mom who decided not to have her son circumcised, and she didn't know what was necessary, and I could tell she didn't have the guts to ask. So I did the teaching with her, and she was so happy to find out how not to hurt her son. She told me she opted to have her first son circumcised simply because no one had explained to her how to take care of an intact baby.
So the benefit of having a male nurse in OB, L&D, and postpartum is great. Just be confident, respect the feelings of your patients, and deliver on their needs just like a nurse is supposed to, and only stand out as a man in the field if it will somehow make the way you relate to your patients easier. Trust me, there is more support for us in this career than you might think!
If I can fool them into thinking I knew what the heck I was doing when I interacted with these strange miniature people (infants & toddlers LOL), anyone can!
I had to read this a couple of times, because at first read it sounded bad, but now I see you forgot to include a crucial "not" in there ... 
ObtundedRN, BSN, RN
428 Posts
My newborn clinicals where the easiest! I usually just stayed with my instructor all day since I couldn't be assigned to a patient. She usually had me stay in the nursery doing newborn's first bath and immunizations. The rest of the time I was just observing. I watched a few circumcisions, a few cesarean deliveries, and one lady partsl delivery.
Anytime that she tried to get me to go into a room to do a patient assessment, I would walk in and get "that look" from the mom. I just walked right back out and told my instructor "she gave me the look" and she would find me something else to do, lol.