I hate it when the male nurses on my unit...

[nursedudeforchrist]

I hate when the male nurses on my unit refuse to work with female patients b/c they are a "man" and "the patient won't be comfortable working with a man." If the patient isn't comfortable, I'm pretty sure that she will say so! They keep doing this, and I want to say so badly, "Are you sure it's not you that's uncomfortable? I mean, you did know that you would be working with women, too, when you went to nursing school?" And every night, the charge nurse ends up assigning all the male patients with the male nurses, and sometimes they end up with less patients b/c there aren't enough male patients for the male nurses to have the same amount of patients as everyone else. This is rediculous:banghead:. Okay....I'm done:yawn:. Whew...Carry on!

[Atheos]

Ugh, I used to be very nervous around female patients. Now the family of female patients that I am not acquainted with make me nervous. No good reason for them to avoid caring for females though. They should make them...

[leslie :-D]

it sounds like the charge nurse needs to redistribute the assignments.

i agree, it's not the nurse's call to make.

if the pt refuses, then the cn can swap pts but until/if that happens...

leslie

[BelleKat, BSN, RN]

That is ridiculous,I've never heard of that,especially not of giving them fewer pts because they're not enough male pts? WHAT?!:hlk:

[nursedudeforchrist]

She has actually tried to reason by saying that the male nurses' could handle the men b/c they were heavier:no:. Not even. Mind you, these are all seasoned nurses.

[Mulan]

That is ridiculous,I've never heard of that,especially not of giving them fewer pts because they're not enough male pts? WHAT?!:hlk:

that's probably why they say it, so they get a lighter load :chuckle

[Reno1978, BSN, RN]

It sounds like this is ingrained into the culture of the unit and is perpetuated by both the male nurses and whoever is in charge.

Best of luck encouraging the waves of change!

[RobLPN]

I hate when the male nurses on my unit refuse to work with female patients b/c they are a "man" and "the patient won't be comfortable working with a man." If the patient isn't comfortable, I'm pretty sure that she will say so! They keep doing this, and I want to say so badly, "Are you sure it's not you that's uncomfortable? I mean, you did know that you would be working with women, too, when you went to nursing school?" And every night, the charge nurse ends up assigning all the male patients with the male nurses, and sometimes they end up with less patients b/c there aren't enough male patients for the male nurses to have the same amount of patients as everyone else. This is rediculous:banghead:. Okay....I'm done:yawn:. Whew...Carry on!

I've never heard of such a thing. Yes, if a pt request it, but it's rarely happens.

[casi, ASN, RN]

Someone really needs to sit these nurses down and give them a talking to. This hasn't been the norm anywhere I've ever worked. Occassionally one of the male nurses will ask a female to cath a female patient of theirs or something else that's personal, but they also offer to do the same for a female nurse's male patients.

[I love my cat!]

I hate when the male nurses on my unit refuse to work with female patients b/c they are a "man" and "the patient won't be comfortable working with a man." If the patient isn't comfortable, I'm pretty sure that she will say so!

I wonder how many of these females don't want a male Nurse, but are totally content with a male Doctor? You should point that out to them.

[Dixielee, BSN, RN]

I work ER and there is no special assignment based on gender. If an alert female needs a foley, usually a female will put it in, an alert male will have a male insert it, IF there is time and available staff. It is done for patient comfort and privacy issues, not the comfort of the staff.

If a patient needs a pelvic exam and has a male nurse, he will set up the pelvic, have everything ready and then a female tech or nurse will be there for the pelvic itself. Each of these duties only takes a matter of minutes and makes the patients more comfortable.

On the flip side...I LOVE having our men available in the ER. Drunks and rowdy types generally respond better if there are men around. Our men are quick to jump in and help with large or unruly patients and generally keep things under control.

I have never had any issues with working with men. They often bring a different perspective to things. One nightshift I realized I was the only female in the ER. The clerk, the doc, the tech and the other nurses were male. I think it is great. With more men in the nursing workforce, comes better pay and working conditions for all of us.

So if you are having trouble with the men, you need to come work at my place!

[Hands and Heart]

That is just crazy since over 50% of the population is female. The male nurses knew that going into the profession. For years and years, female nurses have been caring for male patients without shuffling the responsibility to another person.