How much sexism is there in nursing?

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Feb 13, 2023

RitzyCinnamonRoll said:

Have you ever experienced such attitudes like that from doctors and/or patients?

Not in my 45 yr career.

RNperdiem, RN · Feb 13, 2023

This sounds a bit like Reddit drama or clickbait to be honest. We can't verify its accuracy. For some people emotion creates their reality. Did the doctor actually say those words, or did the patient describe how the doctor make them feel?

In 30 years of working in hospitals, I hospitals, I haven't witnessed anything like that. Not that sexism doesn't exist, just nothing as over-the-top like that.

What country/culture/subculture was the doctor and the patient from?

FiremedicMike, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Feb 13, 2023

Patients constantly call me doctor, is that the same thing?

allnurses Guide · Feb 13, 2023

Several years ago I was having severe low left sided abdominal pain. My physician at that time did not do any tests and wrote me a script for Darvocet (Remember that one). This went on for three months until my employer changed our insurance plan. My new doctor ordered a colonoscopy as well as blood tests for cancer markers because my dad passed away at 69 from colon cancer.

It turned out that my decending colon was full of precancerous cells and I ended up having 18 inches of my colon removed. Once the pain of surgery resolved I was able to get off the opiates and live a pretty normal life.

So yes I know what the OP is talking about.

Hppy

Tweety, BSN, RN · Feb 13, 2023

hppygr8ful said:

Several years ago I was having severe low left sided abdominal pain. My physician at that time did not do any tests and wrote me a scriot for Darvocet (Remember that one). This went on for three months until my employer changed our insurance plan. My new doctor order a colonoscopy as well as blood tests for cancer markers because my passed away at 69 from colon cancer.

It turned out that my decending colon was full of precancerous cells and I ended up having 18 inches of my colon removed. Once the pain of surgery resolved I was able to get off the opiates and live a pretty normal life.

So yes I know what the OP is talking about.

Hppy

I recently took a continuing ED on medical errors that had a grim stat that 10 to 20% of cancers are misdiagnosed. I'm not saying sexism didn't play into your experience but it's a thing.

JBMmom, MSN, NP · Feb 13, 2023

You're not really talking about sexism in nursing then, you have highlighted more physician based examples. I haven't personally seen anything like you pointed out, but it seems to me that the emergency department and primary care would be the most likely places where issues like this would occur. And people are people, whether they're physicians or not (and I'm not saying that makes it right), so there are going to be some with views that are skewed. Sexism, racism, ageism, socioeconomic discrimination, mental health discrimination, all of those things unfortunately exist within the medical community. I don't think that nurses are the primary culprits very often, but I'm sure it does happen.

FiremedicMike, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Feb 13, 2023

hppygr8ful said:

Several years ago I was having severe low left sided abdominal pain. My physician at that time did not do any tests and wrote me a scriot for Darvocet (Remember that one). This went on for three months until my employer changed our insurance plan. My new doctor order a colonoscopy as well as blood tests for cancer markers because my passed away at 69 from colon cancer.

It turned out that my decending colon was full of precancerous cells and I ended up having 18 inches of my colon removed. Once the pain of surgery resolved I was able to get off the opiates and live a pretty normal life.

So yes I know what the OP is talking about.

Hppy

What does this have to do with sexism?

DavidFR, BSN, MSN, RN · Feb 13, 2023

Sexism, racism, xenophobia, homophobia - there's as much of all these things in nursing and in medicine as there is in broader society. We're a microcosm of the broader world and although it's our remit to treat all patients (and colleagues) equally, sadly nurses and our colleagues do sometimes allow their prejudices to come through.

I've seen countless examples of all the isms and phobias in hospital over the years.

My first example of sexism was as a student nurse in the OR - a surgeon used to tell all the females what nice breasts they had and how he'd like to fondle them. Surgeons in the 1980s got away with such behaviour. I've seen another surgeon come to work wearing a tie that looked like a member - nobody challenged him. As for the disrespect with which women having terminations were treated in that particular OR - judgement city.

My Malian colleague had chest pain dismissed as epigastric for over a year on the grounds of, "You're African, you eat too spicy." She finished with a quadruple bypass.

As I gay man I've been routinely tested for HIV despite being in a stable relationship for nearly 36 years and never using drugs. They only needed to question me on my habits and they could have saved the money and resources.

Women in pain are often dismissed as "hysterical" as are people of mediterranean origin often dismissed as having "that mediterranean temperament." I had a male nurse manager in the 90's who's mantra was "I've never seen a sick gynae patient!"

Is there sexism in the nursing heirarchy? I do remember a UK study which demonstrated that despite being a female dominated profession, men in nursing obtain promotion and rise the ranks in disproportionate numbers compared to their female colleagues. Conversely, men are often called upon before their female colleagues for the heavy lifting which has always irked me - I'm a man but I'm not physically strong. I'll lift my fair share but not everybody elses just because I'm a man.

The question is very broad and could be explored for hours. I sincecerly hope we get better as time moves forward. The answer of course is to ALWAYS call out sexism, racism, homophobia and xenophobia wherever we encounter it.

allnurses Guide · Feb 14, 2023

FiremedicMike said:

What does this have to do with sexism?

It goes directly to a physician dismissing my symptoms because I am a woman. So relevant to your OP.

klone, MSN, RN · Feb 14, 2023

The only sexism I have experienced in my time as a nurse is the gender pay gap, and male nurses being promoted into leadership positions at a higher rate than women, in spite of nursing being a "pink collar" profession.

I have seen a lot of classism displayed by nurses to a certain subset of patients in OB/L&D. Patients who are more likely to get a UDS for no reason, or whose pain or symptoms are disregarded.

FiremedicMike, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Feb 14, 2023

hppygr8ful said:

It goes directly to a physician dismissing my symptoms because I am a woman. So relevant to your OP.

I see providers dismiss pain all the time on men and women patients, I just don't understand how you feel your situation was sexism and not just a bad doc?