Male nurse in L&D

Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP · Sep 13, 2011

How much about anesthesia in the US do you really know? This comment shows that you are ignorant of many aspects of anesthesia in the US. It usually has nothing to do with what the patient wants, but simply who is available to provide anesthesia services. Anesthesia providers are in short supply everywhere.

This is how it is where I work and also where I delivered. If someone cares about male/female providers, s/he makes the choice: do I want my pain relief or do I want to insist on a female provider that does not exist? I don't personally think it's wrong one way or the other, but people sometimes have to choose between two less than perfect scenarios.

When I was in labor both times, the (two different male) CRNAs were introduced to me, "This is Dude X. He's with anesthesia today, so if you want an epidural, he's your man." Both were fantastic, respectful, and I have had mosquito bites that were worse than their epidural placement. (ETA - and by the time all was said and done, they had seen as much as the doc, the nurse, or the nursing students. I'm pretty sure they didn't go home thinking about my fantastic anatomy.)

allnurses Guide · Sep 13, 2011

Plenty. My previous job had me working with CRNAs and anesthesiologists all day long. It's a shame that patients can't get an MDA for their surgery because there's a shortage of anesthesiologists.

You know that is another topic for another thread, but if you want the provider that does the procedure/anesthesia the least amount of time more power to you.

What is a shame is that health care professionals don't know that the research shows no difference in care/outcomes between MDAs and CRNAs. The only thing they seem to know is what it is like to work in an ACT practice.

ITSSOSIMPLE · Sep 13, 2011

Let's see this thread has went from personal preference of the patient to males don't belong in OB, to we are more likely to be perverts, to we just having big hands etc.
Personal preference of the patient is fine, but it has nothing to do with not having a male L&D nurse(s) on the floor. There is room enough for both sexes on any patient floor.
FYI: Males aren't a new thing in nursing. Male nurses have always been around. It was female nurses around the turn of the 19th century that effectively excluded the majority of males from nursing. It was male nurses not female nurses that provided the majority of nursing care up till the turn of the nineteenth century. http://www.malenursemagazine.com/history.html
To me male nurses in L&D are nothing more than another gender bias that needs to be rectified.
As a nurse if you have a problem with a male being an L&D nurse you need to get over it, if you are female patient who wants a female nurse then you will be accommodated as always.

Very well said! Female patients who prefer a female nurse have always been accommodated from what I have seen. Yet,

male patients are often ridiculed or talked about at the nurses station,despite a male nurse being available. I once walked into

an intensive care unit that was staffed by all females and asked to use the restroom. That restroom on that unit was completely

covered with full nude male foldouts from playgirl magazine.

Now imagine a L&D unit staffed by all men with foldouts from playboy magazine in the unit restroom,wouldn't happen. Yet,

there are no male mammographers anywhere in the united states. The training to be a mammographer is quite extensive, first

requiring a 3 or 5 year program in radiology,followed by a comprehensive exam and a background check. Then cross training

into mammography which takes at least 6 months,followed by another comprehensive mammography exam. To work as a trained

and licensed mammographer takes minimum of 4 years.

Men have been exclusively precluded from cross training into mammography, why? Visit your local urology clinic and you

will find only females with 6 months or less minimum training performing everything from foley caths to urodynamic tests.

jrt71 · Sep 13, 2011

I once walked into an intensive care unit that was staffed by all females and asked to use the restroom. That restroom on that unit was completely
covered with full nude male foldouts from playgirl magazine.

I simply don't believe you.

OCNRN63, RN · Sep 13, 2011

Well, me too, but to paint someone as a pervert for wanting to do it versus someone who - God bless them - has the desire to do something I could never do is wrongheaded. (I am not saying you did this, but it did get said somewhere in this thread.)
It's one thing to have a personal preference for a male or a female nurse in whatever setting. It's entirely different to accuse an entire group of being pervy creeps for wanting to work on a given unit.

I agree that was out of line.

OCNRN63, RN · Sep 13, 2011

You know that is another topic for another thread, but if you want the provider that does the procedure/anesthesia the least amount of time more power to you.
What is a shame is that health care professionals don't know that the research shows no difference in care/outcomes between MDAs and CRNAs. The only thing they seem to know is what it is like to work in an ACT practice.

What's really a shame is that just because someone does not agree with mid-level providers, they get accused of not knowing anything about research, yada, yada, yada. Please. I've read more than my share of articles about that topic. It doesn't change my opinion that if a patient wants a physician to provide his/her care, the patient's request should be honored.

With all the threads about getting advanced practice in the least amount of time possible, I am even more leery of mid-levels.

allnurses Guide · Sep 13, 2011

What's really a shame is that just because someone does not agree with mid-level providers, they get accused of not knowing anything about research, yada, yada, yada. Please. I've read more than my share of articles about that topic. It doesn't change my opinion that if a patient wants a physician to provide his/her care, the patient's request should be honored.
With all the threads about getting advanced practice in the least amount of time possible, I am even more leery of mid-levels.

Start a thread on the CRNA forum and I will be more than happy to debate the topic with you. We can compare your knowlege to mine on the subject. :devil:

Editorial Team / Admin · Sep 13, 2011

This thread is getting out of hand, off-topic and very personal. Please do not enter into this type of discussion anymore. Also, this thread is not a debate about education of/care given/rec'd from mild-levels or CRNA/Anesthesiologists.

Future posts in this manner will be deleted.

O.k.?? Thanks

L&DShopaholic · Sep 13, 2011

I think that's crazy that they would tell you that they don't hire males. I would hate to hear as a female that I couldn't get a job because of something I couldn't control. It may be grounds for discrimination.......Honestly speaking I personally prefer female doctors and nurses and I know my significant other would feel more comfortable with that arrangement as well. During college I've always found it odd why out of all the specialties a man would choose to study gynecology. It never sits well with me...Then again....that's just me reflecting though...I would never however say that someone can't be hired because of it. Some women don't mind. You should speak up on that because you have definitely been wronged! I hope it works out for you :-)

KareBear0609 · Sep 13, 2011

There is no differences in why a female or a male want to work in L&D. There are lots of female L&D nurses that have never had children that like to work in L&D. Some people just enjoy the whole delivery process and ushering in a new life to the world.
As a CNA how many deliveries have you participated in/seen? There is nothing sexual about them. Deliveries are smelly, messy, and the majority of OB patients are overweight.

I have seen two births. I never said there was anything sexual about a birth, so I don't know where you got that from.

Oh, and the two births that I participated in weren't smelly, so I don't know where you got that from either.

I'm not here to fight. All I'm saying is that a patient of any kind should be able to have the choice. If you are male and prefer male - that's your right. If you are female and prefer female - that's also your right. Males shouldn't become all bent out of shape if a female doesn't want them to care for them and/or their new born child.

My question to you is - I'm seriously curious - why does it seem that females have a preference more often than males? It seems to me that a female would request a same sex care provider much more than a male would.

Raven Sierra, BSN, RN · Sep 13, 2011

I had a male OB nurse for my first delivery. Here I was, not used to everyone and their coworker being up in my female "business," and this big, linebacker-looking dude comes in and is going to check my cervix.

Yeah, he had big fingers, but he was very quick about it. I was grateful.

He was a very cool guy, and I enjoyed his nursing manner far more than some of the female nurses I had.

Likewise, for my third pregnancy, I had a male OB nurse; it was a spontaneous AB, so I wasn't in the best place, emotionally. He was awesome, even given the language barrier (I was in a German hospital and only speak a little).

Male nurses in OB are fine with me.

allnurses Guide · Sep 14, 2011

I have seen two births. I never said there was anything sexual about a birth, so I don't know where you got that from.
Oh, and the two births that I participated in weren't smelly, so I don't know where you got that from either.
I'm not here to fight. All I'm saying is that a patient of any kind should be able to have the choice. If you are male and prefer male - that's your right. If you are female and prefer female - that's also your right. Males shouldn't become all bent out of shape if a female doesn't want them to care for them and/or their new born child.
My question to you is - I'm seriously curious - why does it seem that females have a preference more often than males? It seems to me that a female would request a same sex care provider much more than a male would.

"And... what are the motives? Seeing a baby born into this world? Yeah right....."

Your quote not mine, so if that isn't saying that males are some kind of closet perverts for wanting to work on L&D then I most have totally missed your meaning.

Most males are uncomfortable with female providers when it comes to genital/prostate exams, and what choice do males have when it comes to nursing care with approximately 88% of the nurses being female in the civilian world.

It is a rare choice for males to be able to say I only want male nurses for my care. It just isn't feasible most of the time in most hospitals. You maybe occasionally be able to accommodate one male patient but a lot of non critical care floors do not have that many male nurses.

No one said anything about taking the choice away from the patient whether they want a female or male L&D nurse. This about having a mixed unit of females and males not taking away patient rights.

Getting back to the original post it is discrimination not to hire a male on the L&D floor, and unless it is only 1 or 2 bed L&D it will put no undo burden on the unit. It is grounds for EEOC complaint.

I say apply for the job, and if the OP doesn't get it file an EEOC complaint.