Male ED nurses in the GYn room

[CatintheER]

How many male nurses out there run the Gyno rooms, I was going to pay one of our male nurses $20.00 to run the GYN rooms one night and there were no taker. What do ya'll think, and be gentle.

[Kidrn911]

I don't think anyone really LIKES to do these exams, but you chose the profession...expect them. As a health professional, I don't see this topic or the above poster's comment about "crotches", as very appropriate. It's actually quite rude.

Well I don't see it as unprofessional either, I also use the term "wee wee" as well.

BTW, I hate eyeball injuries as well, just as much, as crotch exams.

[RunnerRN, BSN, RN]

You know, we all participate in the "Rules for the ER" and "Stupidest Reasons to come to the ER" threads without a question of our professionalism (by our group....others love to question our professionalism in those threads). I really think this poster was trying to make a joke and a point regarding how often the male nurses seem to get a pass with gyne c/o. We do a team nursing concept in my dept, and I will often already have 4-5 pts, and will get a vag bleed bc "you're the only chick over here." I finally refused last night and told the boys that I would assist on the pelvic, but they had the pt.

It wasn't worded the best way, but I take the OP as a funny rib. It can get frustrating. And PS - no one like "crotch rot" no matter how it is worded :) It is just a matter of common sense that if you're going someplace and will have to expose an area, you wash up before going.

[mesixfuture]

Interesting question. All (seven) of the gynecologists I work with are male. Therefore, why is it a big deal if the nurse is? I have no issues with it, but many female pts do, and that's just how it is. I say there is nothing wrong with a male assisting if the pts comfortable. If she's not then so be it.

[mom23RN]

I have never quite understood how the doc can be male but the nurse cannot. :trout: I mean, for the most part, the nurse if only putting in lines, maybe handing the patient some pads or at the worst checking pads, and chaperoning the doc.

When I worked ER the guys didn't like it but sometimes they have to step up. The only cases they were allowed to "float" to us were rapes.

[Altra, BSN, RN]

come on now ... i personally feel this was meant in a lighthearted way ... let's keep it that way.

my co-workers & i routinely joke, "i'll trade you deep suctioning the trach w/the projectile sputum for 2 pelvics ..." so we're all unprofessional? i don't think so.

there was a non-er thread in the humor forum that ran for quite a while challenging readers to post the grossest "fear factor - nursing style" type stunt they could dream up. the thread was gross ... and funny as hell.

joking & blowing off steam is what lets us treat all patients, even the most undignified, with dignity. unprofessional? no - just human.

[TRAMA1RN]

I think it was funny that you tried to bribe someone to take the GYN room, I am a female and I don't get a choice about taking care of male problems why do males in ER think they should get a choice. ER! emergency patients cannot always choose who takes care of them if they are truely emergent enough to come to ER then they should take what they get.

[Larry77, RN]

We have 2 designated Gyn rooms and 2 swing rooms (can be medical or gyn) I have been assigned these "Gyn" rooms quite often but when it comes time for the pelvic a female nurse or tech assists.

The actual pelvic exam (or SANE case) is the only thing a male would have a hard time doing in those rooms so no reason why they can't be assigned to us.

I never thought about asking for bribes...will have to try that...:)

And to all the people that jumped on the OP's case--LIGHTEN UP!!!

[PedsER-RN, BSN, RN]

to attempt to pay a nurse $20 to do what is part of his/her job is unprofessional.

if i (a female) had heard you say this, my hand would have been out in a second. and if i were not offered that same $20 you can believe there would be some serious explaining to do.

not that i would have taken it, but to prove a point. you simply cannot offer a male extra money to do the job that a female receives no bonus for. this is major sex discrimination. unethical not to mention illegal.

when i cared for males, i did not get (nor did i ask for or expect) extra money if i had to cath a male, or provide wound care/rash check on a male's genitals. i cared for my patients, period. no, i don't have a member. and to be honest, while they don't gross me out, i'm not partial to a 94 year old member/testicles. but the patient needed care, and i, being his nurse, provided it.

now-if you're the lone nurse constantly getting stuck caring for the gyn patients all the time, i can see how this would be very frustrating. if this is the case, perhaps address it at your next staff meeting or talk with your nm.

nurses are qualified to care for ob/gyn patients no matter whether they themselves have a member, or a lady parts or neither or both. i would think that in taking a job in the er, you'd know that you'd have to see and treat members of the opposite sex.

we're professionals. let's act like it. please.

ditto. this is exactly what i was thinking. thanks for a great post.

[nuangel1, BSN, RN]

we have 1 room in main er for pelvics and 1 in fast track .if male nurse has the pt he does everthing but the pelvic.one of us females rn or tech assist the pa-c or md doing the pelvic.

[alkaleidi]

To apply this to a work scenario, we do have an ED nurse who is a guy and goes out of his way to avoid having to take care of female gyne-related emergencies. In fact, he was assigned a vag-bleed the other day and after 45 minutes of not seeing the pt, he was about 2 minutes from being off-shift when the lead asked me to take the pt because she'd not yet been seen.

And conversely, the rest of our nurses who are guys have no problem taking care of female pts, gyne or not. And I personally don't get super excited about dealing with gyne pts, or inserting foleys into women, but I do it because it's part of my job, and required to fully take care of my patients.

By the way, this is a little off topic but why is there this title of "male nurse" and why is it so accepted, of all places, by nurses? What's the difference between the "male nurse" and "female nurse" other than the fact that the male has a member and female has, of course, a lady parts? Last I remember, the males in my nursing class didn't get any different education than we females did, and weren't expected to do any less or more clinically either. I really think we, and men even moreso, should oppose this "male nurse" classification.

[Zookeeper3]

Your post is a joke, unprofessional, and an insult to all the professional male nurses out there.

I'm quite surprised that people thanked you for this.... in the ER as well on the floors it is common, for me at least to be asked to bed pan the females, cath the females, do the gyn rooms.... yet dare me to turn it around and ask every male I work with to do anything penile relate to a male because of gender!

The gyn room, with any nurse, regardless of gender is to protect the doctor/patient. The OP was NOT joking, NOT insulting and anyone working an ER knows the coin toss of the gyn area. I'll find myself insulting male nurses, when they STOP asking me to do the "female" work. ......YOU are out of line here, not the OP, you need to work a bit outside your norm to see how things really work.... then come back, no rudeness meant, you just don't know how things work in other areas... I float and see quite a bit. This is common, don't slap the OP for stating it, they didn't create the situation

[nuangel1, BSN, RN]

the point is regardless of female or male nurse having the pt assigned to them .when the pelvic exam is done there has to be another female in the room .we have female pa's /np when they do the pelvics if the nurses are busy we setup and they do pelvic alone .but if the pa/np/md is male a female rn/or tech has to be in room when male is doing exam .its to protect the staff so pt can't come back and say something untoward happened during the exam .because theres a witness from stafff there as well.i think the op was trying to be funny .i don't believe she was being unprofessional .we also call it "cookie" checks i don't even know why.