Male vs. Female

Energizer Bunny · Mar 28, 2004

Okay, but does this go both ways? What if there isn't a male around to ask to do the cath. for us (I mean, in many cases, there isn't a male nurse around except maybe in the big cities where it is the norm)? I am most definately not being sexist or snotty here....just asking.

zambezi, BSN, RN · Mar 28, 2004

CNM...In my unit, if we have a guy that needs a cath, we will usually ask him if her perfers a male or female to do it (if there is a choice...) If there are no males...then of course, it still has to be done, we do it. If it were an emergency or on some unit there were only men, the caths would still get done because ultimately it is our job. There really is nothing sexual about the procedure...however, some people (patients) just don't feel comfortable about having a member of the opposite sex searching around down there. The probelm is when you have someone that starts screaming sexual assult...even if you were only putting in the foley--no sexual intentions, no nothing but the foley...with accusations like that it causes months of investigation, headache, and occasionally stigma, even you are cleared. Most men and women know when the job needs to be done now and I sure that they would do it when necessary...but if there is time for an option, why not offer it? Again JMO...I know that there are alot of others who don't agree...

avimom · Mar 28, 2004

It never even occured to me to ask the guys on the floor to cath my male patients. Maybe it's because I'm still a student and have only done caths 4 or 5 times (all on males, of course). I just figure that getting a cath is kind of yucky no matter who is doing it, male or female, and just being businesslike about the whole thing makes it easier on everyone. I feel kind of bad now that I never gave my patients the option.

orrnlori, RN · Mar 28, 2004

99% of nurses are acting as professionals when they insert catheters into females or males. That people would think nurses are acting inappropriate and sexual is absurd and an insult to nurses cuz basically they're saying that nurses are kinky. Because the nurse is not only capable of making a pass at Grandma, but likes to get up close and personal by sticking plastic tubes up orifices...I mean please!!

I agree completely with this! But we live in a society now where some people are just looking for a way to make money and there are way too many attorneys out there licking their lips for the opportunity to go after a hospital with those deep pockets. I have been asked more than a few times to go into an OR room when it was noticed that the entire surgical team was men and there were no women present except the anesthetised female patient. You bet I'll go in there and switch assignments with the male circulator or scrub nurse.

I also will go and anchor a foley for the male circulator on a female patient and then go on to something else if they ask me.

I personally think it's a load of horse manure that we have to think like this but, at least where I work and with the kinds of patients we have sometimes, it's best to err on the side of caution. It's a shame it has come to this in some instances.

CEO · Mar 28, 2004

To me, it is just common sense. It's not really about male / female nurses. As nurses we shouldn't care one way or another. (NB: If you're proficient with one gender and not the other - then seek re-education.)

I think it's all about the patient. What would make the patient the most comfortable, how can we help them maintain their dignity, their personal wants and wishes. Patients are at their most vulnerable, and if they have particular wishes that centre around not wanting a male nurse or female nurse, or gay nurse or straight nurse - whatever - then we should do our best to accomodate these wishes whatever our own opinion.

Additionally, there are some patients who act and behave in a way that give you a little hint that they might be litigious. They might have a history of legal action or are just big complainers. Any suggestion of that behaviour and I make sure that everything is done in a way that leaves them with no room for misinterpretation at their end ie. male to male, female to female, 2 staff in the room when procedures are being undertaken, more comprehensive documentation in the medical record - whatever it takes.

VioletX · Mar 28, 2004

I'm a female nursing student (graduating in May). Personally I find it a little ridiculous for a male nurse to only cath male patients or vice versa. I can understand if the patient completely refuses, thats one thing. But otherwise I don't see a problem. I've never heard of a male doctor only performing procedures on male patients. Why should it be any different with nurses? We are all professionals.

mrdoc2005 · Mar 28, 2004

A little off subject, but I am a male student in a rural area and I have had 3 female pts tell me that I can not be their nurse because I am a guy.

RedSox33RN · Mar 28, 2004

A little off subject, but I am a male student in a rural area and I have had 3 female pts tell me that I can not be their nurse because I am a guy.

But I'll bet those same idiot women would let a GUY be their doctor. Unreal!

alk3rainbow · Mar 28, 2004

thats ok I'm a female in a rural area and I had a resident throw an absolute temper tantrum hitting people, screaming, and carrying on like crazy because he did not want a female showering him. Of course in nursing homes everyone seems to freak out around shower time.

bukko · Mar 28, 2004

I had no idea this was a problem for so many male nurses. I have no problems (except for that "finding the spot" issue) with cathing females. If it's someone A&O, I always ask if they'd prefer a female nurse. And I usually have a female nurse or CNA present, not so much for self-protection as to provide a little extra, ummmm, "spread."

What worries me more is my fellow nurses. If I'm always asking them to do an unpleasant job, they're going to peg me as a work-shirker. There are cultural differences in the approach to doing this, though. One of the first times I cathed a female patient at my current hospital, the Filipina nurses with me were embarrassed. There is more of a sex-based division of labor in their country.

You guys who are reluctant to catheterize women -- how do you handle peri care and bathing females?

RNPATL, DNP, RN · Mar 28, 2004

First, let me say that I have never had a female patient refuse for me to care for her, and I have taken care of ALOT of women over the years. Second, I have never had any of the female nurses that I worked with ever even question my work ethic because I would ask them to cath a female patient for me. I guess it is kind of like an unwritten code .... I mean, you scratch my back and I will scratch yours. Trust me ... most of the time I am helping the other nurses with their lifting! They can cath a female patient for me if needed. I would do the same for them.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Mar 28, 2004

You guys who are reluctant to catheterize women -- how do you handle peri care and bathing females?

Good point. Fortunately cathing a&o females doesn't come up much for me. There's usually an earger nursing student wanting to do it anyway.

On night shift we only bath total care or confused patients, and I do not always bringing a female in with me. I just do it. If an alert and oriented person needs a bedban I do that too and help them. Rarely, but sometimes, they ask for "one of the girls" and I allow them that.

I know it seems silly and hippocrital but for some reason I draw the line at cathing and vag suppositories, just can't do it. (I did however bring a tech into a room to witness my giving a vag supp. on a female who had a stroke and couldn't give it herself the other, so I'm not a total prude. :))

But your right, if males don't do the intimate care, it's a burden on co-workers. A little give and take is in order.