Any jobs that male nurses are "not allowed" to do?

[skihan]

Hello all!

A prospective male nurse here.

I am currently working in the early childhood education field, which is another field that is dominated by women in the work force.

Being a man in a childhood education field, there were certain things that women could do that I could not do, such as toileting a female child, when my female co-workers would freely work with both female and male children. I have also been turned down a student support position for being a man (specifically mentioned by the parent) since the client was a 13 year old girl, when I see women working with teenaged boys all the time as a student support.

I personally do not care whether I am working with male or female children in my education job, but I felt that if women could freely work with both male and female children, when I can only mainly work with male children, it gives me a disadvantage in terms of progressing in this field. This is one of the reasons I wanted to get out of childhood education field.

So I want to ask the male nurses: are there any jobs that you are not allowed to do? And do you feel that it gives you a disadvantage in progressing in the nursing field?

[Dranger]

My buddy is an OB nurse and firefighter, I don't think he has had many issues but it is certainly rare.

The rest of nursing, sans Women's health/SANE nursing is fair game.

[Dranger]

My buddy is an OB nurse and firefighter, I don't think he has had many issues but it is certainly rare.

The rest of nursing, sans Women's health/SANE nursing is fair game.

[labordude, BSN, RN]

My buddy is an OB nurse and firefighter, I don't think he has had many issues but it is certainly rare.

The rest of nursing, sans Women's health/SANE nursing is fair game.

Everywhere is fair game INCLUDING women's health and SANE. There are males who are Women's Health NPs, there are males who are Certified Nurse-Midwives (I'm in school for this), and there are male SANEs. Some of us are even certified in lactation counseling and support postpartum women with breastfeeding issues (oh the horror, how could they?!)

Enough with this crap already that nurses who are men can't work in all areas. We are our own worst enemy. Not only do men belong in nursing, but they belong in all specialty areas.

Source: L&D, OB Emergency, Lactation, NICU RN, and student nurse-midwife.

[Ohm108, MSN, NP, CNM]

Echoing labordude:

Men can go into any aspect of nursing if they have a genuine interest in that particular specialty and if they approach said specialty with respect and an openness to learn especially in specialties like SANE or L&D or OB. I have had many non nursing jobs (nanny and doula) which have historically been female dominated but that hasn't stopped me from being able to do well in these areas. I have been asked by multiple families if I could be a nanny for their little one, more then I am able to do with the limited number of hours we have in a day and I have been a doula for the past 3 years supporting many families through the delivery of their baby. I say families because a family can come in many different shapes and sizes and the partner sometimes needs just as much support as the person in labor. If the partner is male, I have found that it makes it easier for him to ask me questions.

When I first started as a doula, I thought for sure that I would get a large number of women who wouldn't want me to help to support them during their labor and delivery because of my gender but surprisingly that has been few and far between. My own stereotypes and perception of the role was disabused once I started working in that role. Many families didn't mind that I was male and some even said it was wonderful that I was there because I could provide harder counter pressure for back labor as a doula. I have had BOTH the prospective mom and her partner thank me for being there to support them and it is generally the male partner that tells me afterward that he was grateful that I was there to give him tips and suggestion on what to do when he is seeing his partner in pain or uncomfortable. I've had male partners ask me what they should say, what they should do with their hands etc, what he should do for his partner during a contraction. Even in L&D, while we are mainly supporting a woman in labor, we are also there for the partner as well.

Like labordude, I am also a student nurse midwife starting midwifery school in the Fall, so men can and do work in Women's Health and OB just like women can work in Emergency and Acute Care in the the ER and there is never a question of whether they are tough enough or manly enough to work in such a high pressure environment if they are trained to do so. As a society, antiquated ideas and social norms of what are "male" roles and which are "female" roles need to go out the window. I think that is one of the main reason why so few men come into these roles because these stereotypes continue to persist and color a person's expectation of the role even before they have had a chance to be in such a role and stops them from even considering that role as a possible future career path. I freely admit that I am just as guilty of harboring certain perspectives about different nursing roles. But the men in nursing who have commented on this thread and who are in those roles right now are helping to change those perceptions and we will hopefully see more men come into these types of roles in the future as a result.

[bryanleo9]

I've heard that men might face challenges in OB due to the personal preferences of some laboring women (though it can be done). However, we love having guys in Peds and NICU, if that floats your boat.

The only skills-related challenge I can think of is that you could need a second observer in the room when placing urinary catheters depending on policy (it's kind of nice to have a second set of hands in there, anyway). Otherwise, you should be golden.

I have only seen one male nurse on an OB unit. He helped deliver both of my sister's babies and was awesome. It is great to see more men going into these specialities.