How do the male nurses feel about perineal care?

[johnny depp23]

Do male nurses actually wash the male and female genitalia? I'm sure this question has been around for ages, but I can't find an answer anywhere... I just find it hard to believe that a male patient would want or even allow a male nurse to do those things.

Please don't respond with rude comments.

[groanup]

It was just a question. If you think that question is insulting you need to a) grow some thick skin or b) NOT RESPOND to my question...

So why did you even bring it up?

What-- do you think perineal care is "women's work"?

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[ManNurse01]

GET'R DONE!

[uscgtrucker]

Actually the easy answer would be: CNA's duh..

As a cna your answer made me chuckle, its true, we do end up doing a LOT of prei care however I will give the 2 male nurses we have on staff at the home I work at credit cuz they will jump right in there with you and help or do it themselves if things get to busy. As for "feelings" while it may not be my favorite part of the job its still a necessity so I try to to think about it to much and just git er done.

[Larrythenurse]

Most of my DD/ MR and physically impaired folks either can't or won't clean themselves. I not only wash 'em, (male and female) I make sure they are well washed! And I do very clear teaching with staff as to what I expect. This can be embarrassing direct- retract the foreskin and clean underneath the member, if an erection occurs either finish the job or return later, clean between the labia, wipe front to back, etc. For some of the staff I get in there and clean the patient 1:1 with the staff observing, then I watch them do it and offer advice on technique. And any time I find a patient with poor pericare I follow up and retrain the staff involved.

Having said that, I want to emphasis that I think we as nurses should strive to be holistic, taking into consideration the cultural/ religious/ spiritual/ ethical issues our patients may have and considering these as we offer care.

:jester:OK. So much for being the total professional:

I hate doing a physical on my folks and finding, how shall I put this gently? Well, as we used to say many years ago in the ER: "Lady in bed five needs her cat well cleaned," or "Gentleman in bed five has a particularly dirty rooster."

While we are on the subject- clean those orificees, folks! Wipe until the wipe comes back clean!

A final note- when I worked geriatric units and had to help my "little old ladies" get undressed I used to tell them: "Now, if you have something I have never seen, I will let you know." This element of humour helped often helped relax the person a bit. (That is, until undressing a lady who had been a WAC during WWII found some rather interesting tattooed reminded of her, hmmm, let us just call it service to the airmen!) Oddly, I found the older female usually less modest than younger ones. Likewise, the older gentlemen seemed comfortable enough with me doing personal care. It is younger folks (30 down) who seem to me very inhibited with their bodies.

[PatMac10,RN, RN]

I am a Pre-Nursing Student who works as a CNA at my local hospital and I do it all of the time. I figure the women need perineal care just like the men do, maybe even more so. I try not to get all caught up in the male and female thing, unless the patient is uncomfortable with it. I just tell myself they need optimal care. I always ask all of my patients if they feel comfortable with me washing there private area. If they don't feel comfortable I try to find an alternative like placing the rag in their hand and me guiding their hand, or (if their female) finding a female CNA or nurse to do it, or by asking a family member that is comfortable with doing it. You can't always find an alternative, and I have been fortunate enough to never have problems if I couldn't find an alternative and had to do the peri-care on the patients myself. To be honest I'll have more men refuse and say "my wife will do it", or "I will do it" than women, which is understandable.

[RunningWithScissors]

I had a completely alert and oriented elderly man who came from home living alone ask both me and the tech to "wash my balls". Of coorifice if we didn't comply we would be admonished for not giving excellent care.....

[RNandRRT]

As for the male patients, if I'm doing the cleaning, it's because they can't and there's never been any awkwardness associated with the process.

As for the female patients, I do like to have either a female CNA or another female RN with me just for protection for the patient, and myself against any false claims of inappropriateness. Again though it's only if the patient cannot perform this task themselves.

[NurseNed]

(Quote)Originally Posted by leslie :-D View Post

you'd think that all of us would get that...

but tell that to the gazillion, filthy, feces-crusted foley caths i've seen.

leslie

Bad bad imagery(shudder)!

Double bad imagery for which I have two words:

Write Up ! If I have to correct them the second time.

I have seen UTIs progress to a nephritis.

I often told folks working for me to treat patients as my family if they cannot treat them as their own.

If they cannot give quality care and/or call for help when they have trouble, they can go hang.

I determined early on that I would not suffer a write-up because I had not taken prompt action when I found sub-standard care.

The patients' feelings will be fine if they have quality care with respect for their choices,

plus they will get well more quickly, in the main.

I have had female patients ask for me to be their nurse when they had refused other males.

(I did almost always ask for female assistance "if only to help the patients keep their filters clean",)

Ok, yeah, and for CYA for me as well.

[Nursingbear74]

In reference to how do male nurses feel about giving perineal care to male/female patient? I've been in this profession for more than 20 plus years and I can tell you that it depends upon the patient. I've had some males/females patient tell me they don't want a male nurse doing their perineal care. When that happens I tell the patient I would do my best to find a female nurse to assist them, but I let them know it might be awhile before one can help them. There are times when they don't want to wait especially if they are soiled with urine/stool. Here another thing that usually works: If the patient has a trusted family member near by and they ask me if that person can assist them I encourage them to do so especially if the mother asks if her daughter can help her. I could go on and on, but most of the time I've patients who don't care who cleaning them up just as long as it done and they aren't sitting in it. So yes male nurses do perineal care and I've the satisfaction of knowing that my patients are clean. One final note: Where I work (in a LTCAH) every one is responsible for patient care. So in other words if the CNA for that patient is busy with another patient the nurses have to do it. Put yourself in the patient position.:redbeathe

[stutl2ep]

You're not always going to have a CNA, or a female colleague. If you were dirty/soiled would you really care whether a male or a female cleaned when you could not clean yourself? Of course not!!! Just get in there and do it, give the best care. There are not that many patients who will refuse to be cleaned when they are dirty based on the gender of the person who is taking care of them, but when they do you must make sure to get help and document it appropriately in a non-judgemental way. As nurses we must adapt to our patients needs in all ways, it's our job, our duty, and for most of us... it's our passion to be the best and give the best care to all of our patients. Always treat your patients as if they are your loved one or as you would like to be treated.

[orthonurse55]

When are we going to stop drawing a line in the sand? We are nurses - male or female, all trained to do the same job. Same goes for CNA's - whether male or female. It's a job.