I think I'm professional, but now I'm not so sure, after I told some American friends that as a male nurse, I don't catheterize women.
'That's sexist' was one of the kinder comments, while one of the more rational comments said - "We are professionals. As long as we behave in a professional way, then we should all have to do the same job."
I naturally asked 'does this mean we're nurses first, and men/women second?' and they didn't give a concise answer.
Am I the only male who thinks that it is harder for a female patient as well as for a male nurse to do such an intimate procedure?
Am I the only nurse who thinks that gender does matter? What harm does it cause if I choose not to do a procedure when there are capable people around who could do it just as well, plus make it easier for the patient. As a male nurse, I need a female chaperone if doing such a procedure on a woman anyway, so why not make it easier for everyone and simply keep the male out of it altogether?
But what does being a "Professional" mean? From what I'm hearing from others it sounds like I am a sexless machine capable of doing it all because that is what I am paid to do. Instead I think of myself as a caring carer. I have my faults and biases. I make mistakes and I sometimes let my feelings help make my decisions. But I have a big heart and I do the job because I care first. I enjoy making people laugh when they're sick. I enjoy being able to make a difference in people's lives. I also do the job recognizing my faults, and if I ever think that my views/faults may jeopardize a patient, I know to get someone else to take over that patient's care. I guess I'm not a very successful Sexless Professional. But I can live with being called sexist and unprofessional, just because I sometimes refuse to do female catheterization. I'm sure there's a lot worse things I could be.
A couple of extra points to mention:
For the record, the female staff used to ask me to catheterize the men, and they'd do the same for my female patients, and we never had a problem.
Also it's strange, but apparently I'm allowed to catheterize little old ladies, but not young women. Sounds a bit ageist to me. Do the feelings of older people not matter as much as those of young people? Naturally I'd never contemplate such a procedure on a young woman.
This thread and the other three threads that the OP has initiated are definitely odd story telling. I question how much truth there is in any of them, but it doesn't really matter. After all, this is the internet.
We have a few male nurses on our unit and in those situations while the male nurse do come in, usually it's the female nurse that does it. Parents are generally more comfortable when a female nurse caths a female patient. It's not sexist and while not all parents are like this, some are. I have literally been in the room and had the parent ask my coworker "you *arent* going to do it, right?". While yes it's annoying, my coworkers are understanding and we help each other. My male coworkers give the talk to our male onc kids about sperm banking. Also I'm not gonna lie we abuse our male coworkers. When something goes down, we immediately turn to our male coworkers to lay down the law. Lol that or our assistant nurse manager, she whips parents into shape!
The amount of discrimination us male nurses have to endure is beyond description. It occurs with impunity...
Wow. I am really sorry that you have been through all that. I've had some experiences too, of suffering at or getting fired from a job for doing the right thing. I hope that you find a great place to work.
It must be local to my area because I have worked at several hospitals and if a male was doing the cath a female had to be in the room. I never said two females just the fact that if a male is doing anything in the genital area then a woman must be present. There are been several instances in my community where a woman was coming out of anesthesia and saw a man between her legs and claimed all kinds of things were happening and it was only because a woman was present that some poor guy didn't get arrested or worse.
~PedsRN~, BSN, RN
826 Posts
Just realized that this thread has gone off the rails. LOL!!!!