attitudes of male and female patients towards male nursing students

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" Attitudes of male and female patients towards male nursing students"

This is our topic for our nursing research. Im having a hard time looking for some related literature..but, fortunately, allnurses.com made it a little bit easy. However, latest statistics on number of male nurses in our country( Philippines) is really hard to find in the internet..

was in my first day of OB clinical. I walked in and my patient was an ex-girlfiend that had gotten married and I didn't recognize the name. Actually I don't think she had as much of a problem with me taking care of her as did her husband. Fortunately, my instructor (who was also a male) was very understanding about the situation and changed my assignment. All in all, my entire OB clinical was not a fun experience because everytime I went into a room to do anything, I had to have my instructor and a fellow female student with me. Other than those eight weeks, I've never really had a problem with a patient.

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Specializes in Emergency.
Funny

I am in my second year in an ASN program. Up until today I would have said that I have never had a problem with any assignement.

Today I had two patients that were in their 30's (I am 42). They were both in for peri area procedures. One was no problem at all. The other seemed to be no problem. I worked with her all morning. Set her up for ADL's and then assisted her with back and peri care. She had a significant loss of blood and ended up staying for a 23 hour obs. Her H&H was 26.4/8.1. So I did not get her out of bed.

Then, when it came time to remove her foley and vag. packing I asked the RN if she minded if I observed. SHe told me to get the patients permission. Which she gave. No problem. Then the RN went in to the pt. room and came back a moment later. She informed me that the pt. indeed did not wish for me to observe. This is strange for me because I have been working as a paramedic for over 20 years and have always found that attitude and profesionalism seemed to overcome any type of concerns. I later was told by the pt's roomate that the RN came in and said to my pt. something to the effect of, You don't want a man to watch me do this, do you? Of course the pt. is going to agree with her nurse.

My instructor was not supportive at all stating, "I don't believe it". I have had men students here for the past couple of years and have never run into this. You must have misunderstood the situation.

Well, as they say. Live and learn.

Brian

Yep, the exact same thing happened to me. After all my nursing school rotations and a year in the ER, the only problem I've had was not with patients, but with a couple of the nurses in L&D. Whether they were just embarrassed to ask patients about me or whether they truly didn't like male nurses, who cares? Life is too short.

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Specializes in midwifery, ophthalmics, general practice.

I think it comes down to the experiances the patient has had in the past. on a purely personal level I am not comfortable with a male taking a cervical smear- thats because the times I have had a male take it (be he nurse or docotor) it have been horribly uncomfortable and I have bled for ages for afterwards. so although I will allow a man to take a smear- I dont feel comfortable and find it a very stressful experiance. Given the choice- I would prefer a woman. there are some things that we have done where empathy is a great thing! Having a smear done can feel like an assault.....

just something to think about.

Karen

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Specializes in Rodeo Nursing (Neuro).

I've run into only a couple pts who asked for a female nurse, and a couple who prefered a more experienced nurse. Gave up one female after consulting my charge nurse--she had no objection, but we were worried she might like me too much.

I've been asked once to remove a Foley from a male pt who was modest, and several times to help with lifts or combative patients.

I was recently helping a 97 yr old lady back into her clothes and back to bed when she explained that she was a Christian and didn't want to have sex with me. But, in general, gender hasn't been much of an issue.

Tom, I hope you were kidding. If you seriously don't like having a male nurse, shame on you. If you seriously like having a female nurse more than you ought to, shame on you. Unless you're having altered mental status, of course.

Personally, I very much prefer not to need any nurse.

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interested in your topic, i am a female student nurse in my third and final year, i have worked with many male student and qualified nurses and have only encountered in theree years of training one female patients objection to a male nurse caring for them. Personally speaking i sometimes prefer to work alongside male nurses as i find they often relate to patients better because of there sense of humour (maybe they feel they have to compensate for not being female) as in sometimes feeling awkward with intimate female procedures. I do find that male nurses are not all gay he he and do not conform to the bitchyness often encountered from female staff, also they are not prone to gossip and are logical in there thinking, i would certainly not have a problem with a male nurse looking after me if he was competent to do the job correctly. Come on all you male nurses do yopur stuff!!!

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Cardiac, ICU.

Why would a person have a problem with a male nurse taking care of them when their are more male doctors than females doctors? The only thing I have seen is the male doctor must huve a female nurse in the room for private type exams and that is just so no one can accuse the male doctor of doing anything funny.

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i think some elderly patients have a problem with male nurses because of the era that they were brought up in

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Funny

I am in my second year in an ASN program. Up until today I would have said that I have never had a problem with any assignement.

Today I had two patients that were in their 30's (I am 42). They were both in for peri area procedures. One was no problem at all. The other seemed to be no problem. I worked with her all morning. Set her up for ADL's and then assisted her with back and peri care. She had a significant loss of blood and ended up staying for a 23 hour obs. Her H&H was 26.4/8.1. So I did not get her out of bed.

Then, when it came time to remove her foley and vag. packing I asked the RN if she minded if I observed. SHe told me to get the patients permission. Which she gave. No problem. Then the RN went in to the pt. room and came back a moment later. She informed me that the pt. indeed did not wish for me to observe. This is strange for me because I have been working as a paramedic for over 20 years and have always found that attitude and profesionalism seemed to overcome any type of concerns. I later was told by the pt's roomate that the RN came in and said to my pt. something to the effect of, You don't want a man to watch me do this, do you? Of course the pt. is going to agree with her nurse.

My instructor was not supportive at all stating, "I don't believe it". I have had men students here for the past couple of years and have never run into this. You must have misunderstood the situation.

Well, as they say. Live and learn.

Brian

Im curious,

Is your instructor male or female?

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So far as a student, I've seen it go both ways...

During one of my first clinicals, I was working with another student (who's female) in assisting ADL's with an elderly woman. When it was time for a bedbath, she declined. We even asked if she'd be more comfortable if I left. She still politely refused. I eventually left to take care of other matters. Afterwards, when chatting with my partner, I find that the patient changed her mind once I left. Didn't phase me at all. I continued providing care for that patient for the rest of the shift. At the end of the shift, she expressed her thanks several times to both of us.

Another instance, I was with a preceptor (female) who had been a nurse for more than 20 years. We went into an older woman's room to start the day and get her preped for a procedure. Everything went fine. Once we were out of the room, the preceptor said, "boy, she really liked you." Which I found pretty surprising since I wasn't doing too much regarding interpersonal communication. I asked why she felt that, and she offered that sometimes people look to the male as the leader, regardless of their actual position. (I was introduced as a student, so the patient knew I was a rookie). During subsequent interactions, I watched the patient, and sure enough, she always looked at me after the nurse provided instruction/care/etc. as if to get my stamp of approval.

I've even seen some interesting reactions on the part of the male patients. In one instance, there was a male pt. who had been fairly difficult during the day. At that particular moment, he needed to get out of bed and to a bedside commode (which he had requested). Apparently, during an earlier attempt, the patient was uncooperative and was not doing much to assist in his own move. His tech asked me if I could assist in lifting. I said, "sure." Once in the room, the patient more or less moved from the bed without anything more than an added hand for balance. He went about his business and I returned to mine. Later his nurse asked how much I needed to do. I told her that I had barely touched him. The nurse sort of smiled and suggested that the patient didn't want to appear to be a "wimp" in the presence of another guy. (I guess we could do a whole thread regarding whether that comment was more of a reflection of the patient's attitude or the nurse's preconceived notions, lol).

Anyways... it kind of struck me that the "male nurse thing" was a door that could swing both ways, regardless of the patient's gender. What the other nurses had shown me was what mattered was care. They seemed to approach the matter of a patient's gender stereotype the same way they'd approach something like a patient's aversion to needles. Didn't much matter what we thought about it. Our task was to find a means to render the appropriate care in terms that the patient could accept. True, these were probably "blue sky" sorts of situations. However, it was still neat to see yet another facet of how different people display different reactions to similar circumstance. Whether their reactions are to race, gender, culture, or just the fact they're tired of their orifice hanging out the back of their hospital gown, folks will find reasons to be uncomfortable in specific situations.

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Specializes in ER/Trauma.

Ne'er had trouble (yet!).

My Senior (Who was pretty darned awesome) once told me that in a way, I had it better when I would become a nurse - Doctors tend to pay more respect and attention, you don't get bossed around, better pay for the same job (?) etc.

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I found more resistance while a student in the nursing home. Occasionally the little old ladies didn't want a male nurse, but not very often.

One incident in the hospital comes to mind. We had an elderly gentleman who wet himself. He wouldn't let the female nurse help him. He insisted on waiting for his wife. My charge nurse asked me if I would try. So I grabbed the male CNA and off we went. Just us guys and he had no problem. We changed him and his bedding and he was much more comfortable.

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Specializes in Staff nurse.

...I had a male nurse attend me in 1984 when I had a D&C and lap. He walked me to the BR after surgery and wanted to wait out side the door while I went. I told him he needed to stay with me in case I got faint or weak. I was thinking only of my safety and didn't even consider that he might be nervous or shy about my situation. He got thru it and when I was discharged I told him I appreciated all his help.

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