If you are a male can you ask to only work for male patients?

Nursing Students CNA/MA

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I am taking the CNA course with a view to becoming either CNA or HHA. During the course I was shocked that in caring for female patients you have to view and touch the female genitalia which to me is a bit too much as a male and I would rather not do. I think that female workers can do that no problem. While I wouldn't be thrilled about cleaning males it would be tolerable.

What could I do to ensure that I only work for male patients? Would I have to go directly into HHA for male patients only? Will going into LTC require me to view and touch the female private part 100%?

Also does the training involve the instructors making sure that you can clean both sexes' private parts?

I'm in the middle of the course and there is no refund, and wondering if there is any way to work without having to view and touch at least the opposite sex's genitalia.

This isn't elementary school, and you're there to care for patients, not sexualize them. It shouldn't make any difference what body part you're cleaning, as an adult, and especially an adult in the healthcare field, you should not be uncomfortable dealing with the genitalia of the opposite sex. You'll see hundreds of them and your only thoughts should be about ensuring you've done a good job and treated them with respect, not freaking out at the "scary" labia in front of you.

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That states, group home. Totally different than hospital or NH. The number of CNA jobs in group homes is probably pretty small.

Being exposed to a lot of naked flesh can be quite jarring to a young person, but it is something you'll probably get used to as time progresses. And as others have said, the amount of times you'd actually be in contact with female genitalia I generally pretty small

Thank you. What kind of credentials or experience do you need to be able to work at group homes?

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If you get the HHA certificate do you not have to go through training where you have to do perineal care?

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.
If you get the HHA certificate do you not have to go through training where you have to do perineal care?

No that is part of direct care in some scenarios so you are required to complete the skill in most states. If you absolutely won't do this, you need to find another industry that does not involve direct care of humans.

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Specializes in Geriatrics.

Not trying to be mean, but I agree with the others who say that you might want to look into a different career path if you absolutely can't handle the possibility of having to clean female genitalia. There's nothing wrong if you can't handle it, not everyone can, but it does mean that CNA might not be the best field for you. There is really nothing sexual about doing peri-care, it's all just part of the job, and one way to deal with it that I've found helps a lot is to think of it in terms of the patient and what you're doing for them. You're doing a necessary deed that they can't do for themselves, you're helping maintain their dignity and comfort, and good peri-care helps prevent skin breakdown, odors, infections, etc. I find focusing on that along with the task at hand makes the whole "ick" or discomfort factor go away pretty quickly.

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LOL!!! CNA work is not for you if you can't get over peri-care! Even if you DO find a place where you can work without ever cleaning a woman's genitals, you won't cut it- your state test for certification has a REALLY good chance of requiring you to perform peri-care on a female, and there are SO many things worse than peri-care (on men OR women)!!!

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Specializes in cardiac-telemetry, hospice, ICU.

OP, this may help: It has been my observation that modesty fades over time. To the point, your female patients probably don't give a hoot who is cleaning them as long as it gets done and you are pleasant. Their girl days are way behind them. As you gain experience, your naivete' will fade as well. It may seem like a big obstacle right now, but in a matter of weeks genitals will be just something to clean. If not, and you still find it intimidating, then forget about the health care field entirely.

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Specializes in CT Surgery; Transplants; VAD Specialist.

I agree with previous posts that, although it's alright with having discomfort viewing female genitalia from a personal standpoint, it stands to question if this line of work is right for you. Such care is an essential part of your day and an important one at that since stool and urine enzymes can easily cause skin breakdown leading to infection. Ignoring a part of the population means you're specializing in only, in your case, male care. And, in general, hiring someone like yourself, at this point, would not be the best choice for an employer when other CNA's have acceptance to performing such important interventions on anyone.

That said, should an employer condone such accommodations (which I hardly think is possible unless they are in desperate need to hire someone), allowing such an accommodation means that you're request potentially increases the workload of someone else, a colleague, which is completely unfair (unless everyone on the team agrees with such an accommodation).

I would suggest taking a more clinical approach to pericare rather than, as one poster put it, looking at female genitalia as a sexual area. You don't need to necessarily like it, but you must become comfortable with it. It's vitally necessary that you not only become comfortable with such care, but be diligent and comprehensive when providing such care since any discomfort managing this very personal area of a patient's body will only result in substandard care, and this is not acceptable.

Me, personally and professionally, I could not work with a CNA with such a request for safety reasons alone. However, the more you do it, the more (I think) you'll become comfortable with the process. Remember, it's an important intervention and vitally necessary for both sexes.

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Specializes in hospice.
I am taking the CNA course with a view to becoming either CNA or HHA. During the course I was shocked that in caring for female patients you have to view and touch the female genitalia which to me is a bit too much as a male and I would rather not do.

Shocked? Really? What exactly did you think this job is?

Having read the rest of the thread and seeing that you're still looking for ways to avoid perineal care, I think you need to find another line of work. Being a CNA means dealing with crotches. All day and all night, both sexes.

If you're this squeamish, I'm wondering what will happen when you encounter your first uncircumcised member, assuming you're cut like most American males. But 70-80% of the world's men are not, so you will see that, and need to take care of them appropriately.

You're an adult. Grow up and get over it, or find another line of work.

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I didnt ask for this but on my assignment I have nothing but men every time they put a women on my assignment the family ask for a women cna to be there caregiver or the resident asks for a women cna. I guess it where I work..

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I didnt ask for this but on my assignment I have nothing but men every time they put a women on my assignment the family ask for a women cna to be there caregiver or the resident asks for a women cna. I guess it where I work..

Did you have to do peri-care for females during your training?

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Do most female residents request that peri-care be done by females?

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