Instructor is not letting me get female patients during clincal

Thunderwolf, MSN, RN · Jan 22, 2006

I'm in nursing school too, and we just found out that we have to have same-sex lab partners for our simulated bed bath lab. I disagree with this policy because I think it only serves to reinforce the idea that women SHOULD have a problem with a man being their nurse, or at least reinforcing the idea that women should only be cared for by other women.

The continued use of this unrealistic segregation in training (in our current nursing curriculum) only perpetuates the myth further. You make a very good point.

NurseDaddy2006 · Jan 22, 2006

It's happened to me too. I've had female patients in a clinical rotation with one professor, and then with others, no female patients. On the last day of my last semester's clincal, I asked the professor why it was that I'd had no female patients during my med surge time with her, and she said it had just worked out that way. Whatever. When I get out there and get working, I'll take care of everybody, I'm not worried. Next clinical rotation is OB. We'll see what happens.

ND

Corvette Guy · Jan 23, 2006

I am in nursing school now..I been throught the OB clincal rotatin last semester. Now I am at just medical surgical..One of my instructors does not let me get female patients for some reason..I think it is biased and she is not going to prepare me for the real world..What do you guys think?

In a very calm & mature manner you need to seek out your nursing chain-of-command to get this gender bias treatment resolved, ASAP! The only time I was remotely excluded [maybe too harsh of a word here] from patient care during nursing school clinicals was during my L&D rotation. No biggie though, since I knew I had no interest in doing such nursing care after I completed nursing school. LOL, I did enjoy my time spent in the newborn nursery. I impressed the staff nurses with how easy I cared for the newborns. I never had the heart to tell them I was a single parent dad that at one time had both sons in diapers way back when I was a Marine in my early 20's. :chuckle

*I was in my late 30's while in nursing school [ADN program]. Four yrs later, enrolled in RN-BSN program... when my sons were out of the proverbial nest.

Corvette Guy · Jan 23, 2006

It's happened to me too. I've had female patients in a clinical rotation with one professor, and then with others, no female patients. On the last day of my last semester's clincal, I asked the professor why it was that I'd had no female patients during my med surge time with her, and she said it had just worked out that way. Whatever. When I get out there and get working, I'll take care of everybody, I'm not worried. Next clinical rotation is OB. We'll see what happens.
ND

Be advised... back when I worked on the Telemetry Floor, a few times [not many] some of the female geriatric patients would request female nurses, which had no reflection on my nursing skills. Plus, while I was a Certified Surg Tech I did a little extra work in L&D. I would scrub in on the C-sections, and lady partsl deliveries. Believe it or not, some of the female surgeons wanted only female staff in the delivery room during the lady partsl deliveries, whatever. :rolleyes:

Times are changing though, less & less nursing gender bias treatment exist now compared to 5 - 10 yrs ago.

AC439 · Jan 24, 2006

I think that instructor is biased against male students. When I was at school, my instructor would make the assignments equally shared so I got both male and female patients. I bath them, put telemetry, give butt shots, put foley, D/C foley, never got a problem. I treat every patients professionally, regardless of gender. Well, your real learning curve is AFTER you graduate. I believe clinicals only serve to let the students familiar with the real working environment and make them less likely to freak out after they get into the real world.

Also, I feel that I have a slight advantage being a male nurse taking care of female patients. In general, I feel my female patients like to open up and talk more to me. Maybe they think I am the doc but that help me to know their concerns and needs better anyway.

Don't feel bad if the instructor doesn't give you female patient. You don't need to have a female patient in your clinicals to graduate and, again, the real learning curve starts AFTER you are licensed.

ZASHAGALKA, RN · Jan 24, 2006

My advice is to let it go.

It's 1 instructor and it's not like you won't get plenty of such experiences in real life.

Look, is the instructor wrong? Of course. Should she be enlightened? Yes.

But you are a student. And the two rules of college: 1. The Instructor is always right. 2. If you want to pass, see rule 1.

It's not your job to fight this battle. It's your job to pass.

I went through school w/ my head down and blinders on. OH, I could have fought so many battles. But rather than die on any of those hills, I choose to win the most important battle of all. And that's why I'm a nurse today.

So, the question isn't whether it's wrong or not, but how much is it worth to you to fix something that isn't your responsibility to fix? Worth more than graduating if it comes down to that? When you make waves, you never knows who gets bumped and who might retaliate against you later. . .

Is it worth that chance to fight this battle?

~faith,

Timothy.

Nurse_Smith · Feb 5, 2006

:yeahthat:

My advice is to let it go.
It's 1 instructor and it's not like you won't get plenty of such experiences in real life.
Look, is the instructor wrong? Of course. Should she be enlightened? Yes.
But you are a student. And the two rules of college: 1. The Instructor is always right. 2. If you want to pass, see rule 1.
It's not your job to fight this battle. It's your job to pass.
I went through school w/ my head down and blinders on. OH, I could have fought so many battles. But rather than die on any of those hills, I choose to win the most important battle of all. And that's why I'm a nurse today.
So, the question isn't whether it's wrong or not, but how much is it worth to you to fix something that isn't your responsibility to fix? Worth more than graduating if it comes down to that? When you make waves, you never knows who gets bumped and who might retaliate against you later. . .
Is it worth that chance to fight this battle?
~faith,
Timothy.

:yeahthat:

Ran into the same type of instructor durring L & D rotation. She worked FT at the same hospital since the Bronze Age...Well as one of 2 men in the class of 36 we both spent like 19 days in the nursery. Most of the women in the class were like "thats so unfair ". I did get to see a vag birth and a C-section though:barf02: :barf02: and only spent 1 1/2 days in postpartum w/ a mom who was going home and needed d/c instructions.

I say dont rock the boat, in 7 years of nursing I have had 2-3 pregers and none of them had a problem with me ( thankfully none of them needed a Fundle check because I have no idea what a boggy uterus is:roll )

If you do goto the Deen then you have a case for sexual discrimination!! Good Luck

Works2xs · Feb 7, 2006

It's not your job to fight this battle. It's your job to pass.

Whose job is it then?

Here's a little story...

Last semester, got to the dreaded "concept map" and "therapeutic communication" exercises. During the process, I noted that both of these exercises had accumulated so much baggage over time as to have become worthless for the purpose they were supposed to serve. It was like a job that suffered from "mission creep." Everyone knew it was broken (except the instructors) but were reluctant to say anything because of fear over "who might retaliate".

Not leaving the job to someone else to "fix", I stepped up - put together a tactful, but direct assessment of the assignments as well as suggested solutions. To ensure the info would get a fair read, I selected an instructor that seemed to be fairly open minded and submitted it to her.

Lo and behold, looking at the syllabus for this semester, and the revised descriptions of those two tasks, it was clear that some drastic changes had been implemented (e.g., 20+ page submissions were reduced to 2 pages).

Now, was it my input? Who knows? More likely, it was the weight of a few like-minded people who all felt that there was some worth in taking action. Moral of the story: IF a few people decide that it IS their job, EVERYONE can reap a benefit. Who knows how many issues like this grind on indefinately, for no reason other than NOBODY ever felt it was their "job" to say anything?

How to go about it? While you don't have to "fight for every hill", you might be able to pick a few more hills if you don't make all your fights a frontal assault. Things like tact, professionalism, and a little political savy regarding the instution you are working in go a long way toward bringing about change.

For the issue at hand, I'd be willing to bet that the school you go to isn't interested in having on-site preceptors who create problems like what you are experiencing. I'm sure they look for ways to make their programs better all the time. Ask some smart questions of your peers, your advisors, and your instructors to identify the person(s) most likely to give a fair hearing to your concerns. Present your information without invective and bring a solution or two to the table. When done right, there's no reason for anybody to "retaliate".

Issues like this deserve to be addressed. You aren't the last guy that will pass through your program. Just think how nice it would have been had the guy before you took a moment to attempt a fix. And think how much better the experience will be for the next guy because of your effort.

Whatever you do, put in some leg work. LOOK for a way to make a few proposals. Talk with your peers. Schedule an appt with a trusted professor and gather their ideas on how to suggest meaninful change (doesn't even have to be about this specific incident). Any of those folks might have some insights that never occured to you. If, after a bit of sniffing around, you still think its too much to risk, at least you would have made an effort. But please, don't just throw in the towel because "its not my job".

Thunderwolf, MSN, RN · Feb 7, 2006

Works2xs....are you planning to go to Grad school?....you should. You present your case very well.

DaFreak71 · Feb 7, 2006

Whose job is it then?
Here's a little story...
Last semester, got to the dreaded "concept map" and "therapeutic communication" exercises. During the process, I noted that both of these exercises had accumulated so much baggage over time as to have become worthless for the purpose they were supposed to serve. It was like a job that suffered from "mission creep." Everyone knew it was broken (except the instructors) but were reluctant to say anything because of fear over "who might retaliate".
Not leaving the job to someone else to "fix", I stepped up - put together a tactful, but direct assessment of the assignments as well as suggested solutions. To ensure the info would get a fair read, I selected an instructor that seemed to be fairly open minded and submitted it to her.
Lo and behold, looking at the syllabus for this semester, and the revised descriptions of those two tasks, it was clear that some drastic changes had been implemented (e.g., 20+ page submissions were reduced to 2 pages).
Now, was it my input? Who knows? More likely, it was the weight of a few like-minded people who all felt that there was some worth in taking action. Moral of the story: IF a few people decide that it IS their job, EVERYONE can reap a benefit. Who knows how many issues like this grind on indefinately, for no reason other than NOBODY ever felt it was their "job" to say anything?
How to go about it? While you don't have to "fight for every hill", you might be able to pick a few more hills if you don't make all your fights a frontal assault. Things like tact, professionalism, and a little political savy regarding the instution you are working in go a long way toward bringing about change.
For the issue at hand, I'd be willing to bet that the school you go to isn't interested in having on-site preceptors who create problems like what you are experiencing. I'm sure they look for ways to make their programs better all the time. Ask some smart questions of your peers, your advisors, and your instructors to identify the person(s) most likely to give a fair hearing to your concerns. Present your information without invective and bring a solution or two to the table. When done right, there's no reason for anybody to "retaliate".
Issues like this deserve to be addressed. You aren't the last guy that will pass through your program. Just think how nice it would have been had the guy before you took a moment to attempt a fix. And think how much better the experience will be for the next guy because of your effort.
Whatever you do, put in some leg work. LOOK for a way to make a few proposals. Talk with your peers. Schedule an appt with a trusted professor and gather their ideas on how to suggest meaninful change (doesn't even have to be about this specific incident). Any of those folks might have some insights that never occured to you. If, after a bit of sniffing around, you still think its too much to risk, at least you would have made an effort. But please, don't just throw in the towel because "its not my job".

Wonderful response! Thank you for writing this.

Adri

Works2xs · Feb 8, 2006

Works2xs....are you planning to go to Grad school?....you should. You present your case very well.

Thanks! Grad school is a goal... in exactly what area is still TBD.

Roy Fokker, BSN, RN · Feb 16, 2006

Unless the female patients in question had objections - I see no reason why you shouldn't be allowed.

Thankfully, I've had ZERO problems taking care of my patients so far - save one (and that was a woman who didn't want STUDENTS ... male or female in there). They've been gracious enough to acknowledge that we need to learn and they've been awesome about accepting me as a professional regardless of my age, sex or color.