Male nurse in L&D

Rob72, ASN, RN · Sep 8, 2011

If nobody ever pushed at preconceptions we'd have no female fire fighters, police officers, servicewomen, doctors, engineers, mechanics...

While some of those services are perfectly gender neutral, I will state, unequivocally and from experience that lowering physical performance standards to "be equal" in hiring is physically dangerous for the cohort, as well as the exempted parties, regardless of positive or negative "morale" generated by such action.

Not saying that is at all the case here, but pushing preconceptions simply because one can is not a postive indicator of ability, intellect, or a logically defensible position.

By all means, OP, if this your passion, go for it! If the DON got your ire up, it won't be worth it...

sharkdiver · Sep 8, 2011

There may not be a choice of units where the OP works. And what if every L&D unit in his city, or even state, have reservations about male midwives? Should he relocate?
If nobody ever pushed at preconceptions we'd have no female fire fighters, police officers, servicewomen, doctors, engineers, mechanics...

First off, unless I misread the OP he's a nurse, not a midwife, applying for a staff L&D position.

Secondly, if every L&D in his area or state hires only males for L&D there is almost certainly a valid demographic justification for a BFOQ, and his odds of successfully bucking that are pretty much nonexistent. In that event, if he really wants to pursue a career in L&D, the relocation would probably be his only option.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying that his facility is not potentially discriminating in not hiring males for L&D, only that it is possible that they may qualify for a legal exception. Before people start screaming "discrimination", they need to know all the factors involved. I encourage him to apply, but if he's not hired then he needs to decide if he wants to potentially push the issue. If you have two similarly qualified candidates, it's not that hard to find one or more reasons to hire one over the other, and very difficult to challenge that.

The occupations you mention are not typically subject to BFOQ exceptions, but other professions such as some segments of health care (L&D), prison guards, the aforementioned locker-room attendants, etc. may be depending on the specific circumstances. It's related to the personal privacy rights of the patients/inmates/members.

And while a health care facility, with narrowly limited exceptions based on BFOQ, may not discriminate in hiring based on gender, the patients still have the absolute right to refuse any specific provider (doctor, nurse, pct, etc.) for any reason they choose, including the gender of the provider. Any attempt to cajole, intimidate, shame or otherwise persuade a patient into accepting an opposite gender caregiver against their expressed wishes is a form of coercion, which has many potential adverse ramifications, both ethical and legal.

So again, I encourage him to apply and hope he is successful. But as another poster commented, if he is hired and subesequently refused by a patient, he needs to gracefully accept that and move on.

microkate · Sep 8, 2011

It wouldn't have bothered me to have a male L&D nurse - as labor goes on you stop caring who sees you anyway. I'd much rather have had a friendly nurse of either sex than the b*tchy old battleaxe I ended up with! It was a military hospital, so I saw quite a few male corpsmen, and they were all caring and professional.

On the other hand, I have a strong preference for female doctors. Almost all the male docs I've seen have been condescending, dismissive, or extremely paternalistic. I'm sure that's just the luck of the draw, but it definitely colors my perception.

canigraduate · Sep 8, 2011

But this isn't actually illegal. Employers can't discriminate based on sex if hiring a male OB nurse would only require "reasonable" accommodation. But if hiring a male OB nurse would require "undue hardship" then refusing to hire males is absolutely legal. Based on my experience of how often female patients refuse male RN students in OB, I think an employer could make the case that a male RN in OB would put the employer in a position of undue hardship. My hospital doesn't hire male RN's in OB, I don't think anybody has challenged it yet, but I doubt they would win.

Did not know that! Thanks!

trauma_lama, BSN · Sep 9, 2011

Lame. if you are warm and loving and know what you're doing i don't care if you're a snuffalupagus. a man OB RN is fine with me as long as he's competent. that is serious discrimination, don't accept it! that is no okay.

good luck :yeah:

sparklie.lady · Sep 9, 2011

The hypocrisy of accepting a male MD and not accepting a male RN is so illogical and stupid, it makes be embarrassed to be female.

And this is why my OB/GYN is a woman Seriously, though, while I believe that it is illegal and unethical to refuse to hire someone based on gender, I would probably have declined to have a male nurse. Ridiculous, I know...but I couldn't have my mother with me and having another woman just felt "right."

NeoPediRN · Sep 9, 2011

Tony you can deliver my babies any day. I would have no problems with a male L&D nurse...unless of course you're hanging out down there salivating, and then you have bigger problems anyway.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Sep 9, 2011

our primary care is a female nurse practitioner, and my husband isn't the least bit concerned that she checks his prostate every year-- he's married to me, a nurse, and he knows she's being professional.

my gyn is a male and all the nurses who go to him adore him; you know how some ob/gyns hate women and some love women? he's one who loves women. he has taken excellent care of me -- and my husband, as in when the very first words out of his mouth to him in postop were, "she doesn't have cancer, she'll be fine."

but i had a female ob/gyn chief resident totally blow me off when i had a serious postpartum complication, pretty much told me it was all in my head (um, it was necrotizing fasciitis. try that in your episiotomy! and never have a baby in a university hospital in early summer-- they don't know where they're putting the stitches.)

i have had awful female nurses in postpartum -- oh, the stories i could tell you would make you weep, really-- and ones that were so wonderful that that makes me weep to remember how proud i was to be a nurse after receiving such compassionate care. and one of my 4 midwives in the practice was a man (thank you, ira, wherever you are, that baby's made me a grandmother twice over since then ) and he was terrific.

so, i come down on the side of, "be professional and caring, and nobody will care about your gender in the heat of the moment." good luck to the op and i hope you get the job and go to midwifery school!

reg.nurse · Sep 9, 2011

Hi, I am a male nurse married 3 kids. I have applied to a position on my facility on the Labor and delivery unit. And they pretty much told me they don't want to hire a male nurse. I don;t think they can do that I think is discrimination. what do you think? do you think ladies would stop coming to our hospital because they don't want a male ob nurse?

I am going to be honest. I have had a male nurse as a nurse, and I did feel weird at first. Not really because he was male, more it was really unfamiliar and I was not desensitized to the male entering the nursing force yet.

I think that woman with maybe something upsetting with a male in her past life experience may be uncomfortable. In many religions, men are not allowed to see a husbands wife in any nature undressed. I see the issue arrising there.

However, I think that many people might be fine with it. How many woman have Male OBGYN's? Why would a woman not want a male nurse for that area if they have a male doctor? I think that you should have JUST as much right to that job based on the normal standards that all applicants are up against. Simply if someone requests a female nurse, give them a female. I do not think you would be sitting with your thumbs up ur.....

I want you to work L&D because I cannot stand it and that leaves you not my competition.

I have learned that I want the BEST nurse and I do not care the age, race, sex, physical appearance or any other thing. I just want them to be good, especially when it comes to my babies. Though I think logically, pardon me.

I hope you get the job, let us know!!!

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · Sep 9, 2011

If I was OK with a male Doc I would be OK with a male Nurse and vice versa. I don't think men should be shunned from L&D. Although I understand not everyone is comfortable with opposite sex caregivers especially with intimate care, and I respect that.

We do not have any male Nurses on our Pediatric unit. I am not sure why, we have one male aide. Would be nice if it was more diverse.

allnurses Guide · Sep 9, 2011

..unless of course you're hanging out down there salivating, and then you have bigger problems anyway.

Gross!!!..... :lol2:

talaxandra · Sep 9, 2011

Secondly, if every L&D in his area or state hires only males for L&D there is almost certainly a valid demographic justification for a BFOQ

I assume you meant 'hires only females'? We don't have BFOQ regulations in Australia (though I'm sure there's some kind of equivalent), so I don't know what the difference is in this scenario between 'a valid demographic justification' for one and it just being that no other facilites have yet hired a man to work in L&D in a non-medical role.

patients still have the absolute right to refuse any specific provider (doctor, nurse, pct, etc.) for any reason they choose, including the gender of the provider. Any attempt to cajole, intimidate, shame or otherwise persuade a patient into accepting an opposite gender caregiver against their expressed wishes is a form of coercion, which has many potential adverse ramifications, both ethical and legal... if he is hired and subesequently refused by a patient, he needs to gracefully accept that and move on.

I haven't seen anyone here post that patients uncomfortable with a male provider should be forced or even encouraged to change their minds, and agree that this would be unconscionable. Given the clear scarcity of men in the role, replacing his care with that of a woman, in the vent a patient objected, should not be difficult.

I do hope, sharkdiver, that you mean the OP should move on from that patient, rather than that he should move hospitals or specialties based on one refusal.

Let's see, we have no male mammographers. Male nurses are essentially non-existentent in L&D units. Women,particularly nurses on this site say they prefer female nurses.
Let's reverse the roles, are your male patients given choices. My urology experience is just as sacred as your birthing experience.

You may have no male mammographers but, though rare, they exist here, as do male midwives. You may find this article interesting - while a significant number of respondents had concerns with the idea of a man performing their mammogram, the overwhelming majority didn't care. Similarly, while it's true that a number of AN members have posted that they'd be uncomfortable with or prefer a female nurse/midwife in L&D, an equal number have said they don't care about their HCP's gender.

And yes, where an alternative exists my patients are absolutely given a choice when it comes to urological procedures; so far none of them has opted to wait for a male doctor (or nurse from another ward), but I always offer. I don't know that I'd refer to urological (or gynaecological) experiences as 'sacred' but I agree all patients should, where possible, be afforded health care providers they're comfortable with, particularly for intimate procedures.