Male catheters

[libran1984, ASN, RN]

Here's a problem I run into quite frequently- the female nurses come to me on a regular basis to insert indwelling foley catheters for their male pts.

I work in an ED as a float nurse, rarely taking pts of my own but primarily to act as a support team member with the largest scope of practice so as to assist during codes and other high acuity pts. So I always hate saying no when asked by a primary nurse who wants help. However, it's starting to become a real trend where many of the nurses are coming to me saying, "I think it would be less awkward for another male to do this". Yes. That is the exact, word for word quote I was provided.

What do you think? Is her, the primary nurse's argument valid? Or do you think she's just trying to put off an unsavory task?

[dah doh, BSN, RN]

Our facility underwent this huge patient privacy thing. This includes offering the patient the same gender nurse for things like Foley catheter insertions or to have a nurse of the same gender be in the room when doing tasks involving private areas when the assigned nurse is the opposite gender. So yes, we do that too now!

[bebbercorn]

Female nurse, here. I usually explain the procedure and 9 times out of 10, guys are ok with me doing it. If they request a male, I do what I can to get them one. If it's happening frequently I think they're using you.

[elkpark]

(I hope the individuals who post indignantly here about how females in healthcare have no respect for males' privacy concerns are reading this ... :))

[dt70]

Female nurse here. I usually explain the procedure and 9 times out of 10, guys are ok with me doing it. If they request a male, I do what I can to get them one. If it's happening frequently I think they're using you.[/quote']

As a patient I had a female nurse remove it . Was under when put in. Also in OR because of procedure gown only went down to stomach and had female anesthetist (not sure if crna or md).

If the person is there to do their job, I don't care if

Male or female.

Showing confidence in what your doing is the best way to put a patient at ease.

For me it's only family & friends I want privacy from.

[SuzieVN]

Does a male OB/GYN ask a female partner to do his GYN exams? Again, the double standard for nurses.

[strings85]

Working as a cna (in lvn school right now) I had to perform a lot of peri care. In school, and even when I got my first job, doing peri care on women was always a little awkward. It got easier over time, but I would have never have tried to pawn my pts off on another cna unless the pt requested it. At the end of the day it is the job that we signed up for. If anything I think the female nurses you are working with are hindering themselves. How do they expect to be proficient in a procedure that they don't even want to do? I believe a good nurse will want to continually practice their skills to stay knowledgeable, and on top of their game. There may come a day when they have to cath a man, and end up doing a poor job of it.

[elkpark]

Does a male OB/GYN ask a female partner to do his GYN exams? Again, the double standard for nurses.

(No, but they all insist on having a female "chaperone" present, for their own safety.)

[BostonFNP, APRN]

Does a male OB/GYN ask a female partner to do his GYN exams? Again the double standard for nurses.[/quote']

If there is a female provider available at my office they will do any paps on my schedule. I will do any DREs on their schedule. This is policy set by our associated hospital d/t a lawsuit where a patient sued a GYN for abuse. If no one is available, I will have a MA in the room with me.

Most patients tell me this is crazy and they wouldn't mind if I did their full exam. It's played of like its a policy to protect patients. It's not. It's a policy to protect providers.

[SaoirseRN]

My GP has always been male (two different ones in two different communities), and I have never had an issue with either one of them during any examination. They are professionals and I trust them. In particular, my current physician has privileges where I work so we have a working relationship as well as a patient-doctor relationship and there are no problems.

Many females have male physicians so I do not understand these same females who decline a nurse who happens to be male based simply on their gender. I don't understand what they are expecting -- when I help bathe a man, or catheterization him, I'm not looking at him in a sexual way and that's the same for my male coworkers when working with female patients.

Obviously nurses are not physicians, however we are professionals, even when, *gasp* performing personal care on a person of opposite gender.

[Orca, ADN, ASN, RN]

I once worked in a rehab hospital. One of my female colleagues was talking about one of her male patients who she was teaching to self cath when he went home. She said that he claimed to not be retaining much, that he seemed to much prefer her cathing him. I offered to take her place for his next training session. You could see the look of sheer disappointment on his face when I entered the room. Lo and behold, he had retained enough information to do this on his own when he went home. I told him when I left the room that if he needed any further instruction I would gladly return. He never called again.

In regard to your situation, I agree with bebbercorn. If it happens a lot, they're dumping on you.

[blackvans1234]

My PCP (NP all the way!) is a female, and last I checked I am a male (22 Y.O.)

I have an annual physical coming up in a week and I really don't care about her checking my sack for inguinal hernia's.

Chances are that it's not the first member/testicle combo she's seen, and won't be the last.

Personally it drives me crazy how there's a stigma about a male provider for a female patient. They even try to pair us with male patients in clinical, which furthers the stigma (of course a female patient may request otherwise, but by assuming they are against it is perpetuating the stigma).