Male nursing students can do assessments on the women?

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( sorry the heading ment to say CANT do not CAN do) Hello, this is my first post so ill introduce myself. Im a 25/m ER/Trauma phlebotomist and I will be entering nursing school this fall ( after a 2 year wait). I have pretty much made up my mind that the ER will be the best fit for me as im the type of person who can not sit still :). Anyway, I have several male friends currently in nursing school ( some first year some about to graduate) that have made it known to me that 1) I will, being a guy, have at most maybe 3 other guys in a class of 35 and that leads to 2) 4 out of the 5 friends said that they were not allowed to preform assessments on the other female students, however, the women where able to preform mock assessments on the men. Now correct me if im wrong ,but wont I be working on BOTH men and women in the hospital lol. This is not the first time I have heard of such a thing concerning instructors having this bent to the male students. I hope one day this divide that still seems to prevail even in nursing schools ( much less the real world setting) will disappear ,but for now what is your thinking about this? Thanks again.

Specializes in ICU, PICC Nurse, Nursing Supervisor.

I could care less...He has had female nurses come do procedures on him.. no big deal ,it is a job. I am a nurse I understand that but he does not..

So does it go the other way? What about him having a female MD? Seems silly to me too.

~Jen

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Specializes in Nurses who are mentally sicked.
I think you have made some very valid points here. You don't actually say it, but am I correct in assuming that by the term chaperone you mean an assistant of the same sex as the patient?

We all know that anybody can make an accusation about anybody. Having a second person along will not eliminate that. However the likelihood of such an event is reduced by having the chaperone of the same sex as the patient. A same sex assistant reduces the appearances of impropriety if the provider is of the opposite sex. In a litigious society even female providers should have a same sex (as patient) chaperone to protect themselves. A male patient can make a false claim of impropriety against two women providers just the same as a female patient can make a false claim against two men.

Also, beyond protecting the provider, if a patient has a person of the same sex for those intimate procedures, the comfort level of the patient is increased. There is a lot to be said for comforting the patient. If the patient feels respected and has his/her emotional concerns provided for, the situation will seem less adversarial. It will keep patient and nurse on the same "side".

An added benefit would be the increased protection of the patient from bona fide incidents of inappropriate behavior from the few bad apples.

I THINK IT SHOULD BE A FEDERAL LAW.

I do not know if you had any experience in the health care field...but it is easier for you to understand the situation if you have some.

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I can truely appreciate your situation and questions. I have worked in a busy ER for six years and will grasduate in just 12 weeks (Woo Hoo). I have found that in all areas I have spent time, that being a male is not a problem. In fact I had one woman request me during my OB rotation. What ever happens don't let what others tell you hold you back. It will all be fine. Just a side note, there is only 5 males out of 80 students in my class, and I have found that my classmates have gone out of their way to make us comfortable, even during assessments.

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Specializes in corrections, LTC, pre-op.

I recently did clinicals in a large hospital in Georgia and had two women and two men. No problem, keep it professional and always, always have a a female assistant. Remember there are some strange people out there so protect yourself.

I can truely appreciate your situation and questions. I have worked in a busy ER for six years and will grasduate in just 12 weeks (Woo Hoo). I have found that in all areas I have spent time, that being a male is not a problem. In fact I had one woman request me during my OB rotation. What ever happens don't let what others tell you hold you back. It will all be fine. Just a side note, there is only 5 males out of 80 students in my class, and I have found that my classmates have gone out of their way to make us comfortable, even during assessments.
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Specializes in Adolescent Psych, PICU.

PLease do not be discourage. Out of 75 in my class over 10 are males. We are doing our OB rotation right now and the 2 males in my group (clinical group of 6) I have walked into a room and they are holding the laboring womens legs helping her push! SO they definatly get just as much experience as the female OB students. We have not had one single mom say no to them doing assessments, etc.

Maybe it depends on the school and your clinical instructors? I know our male students have had not had any of those problems at all. During physical assessment lab it just depends on the girl, most of the guys seemed to team up together to do assessment on each other (their own choice), but it was just their choice, I guess they felt more comfortable that way?

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Specializes in acute medical.

I guess the concern is patient values, and maintaining "cultural safety". This applies equally to female nurses as it does to male. Where I work, it is important to be aware of indigenous Australian ppls values. There is "men's business" and "women's business" and never ever the twain should meet. However particularly male Aboriginals have to receive care from female nurses and this causes much distress.

Yet there are indigenous ppl who are used to our health system who are more accepting of nurses of the opposite sex providing care and assessment.

This principle would also apply to any other cultural group, including whichever one we are a member of. So it depends on the patient as to what they consent to. And hopefully I have demonstrated the point that female nurses can often

be in similar situations.

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I had something like this happen to me the other day ironically enough. I got a STAT call to the L&D floor to draw a moms H&H level as she was apparently bleeding chronically. Anyways, when i get in the room there were 2 female RN'S 2 male RN'S and a female OB doc in the room. The p.t. had soaked here gown in blood so they were in the process of removing her gown and she was basically nude at this point. As soon as one of the female RN's started to take her

clothes off of her in the bed the OB doc told me to get out of the room ( remember the other 2 male RN's are still in the room) i asked her "didnt you just order a STAT H&H?" The doc said " Yes, but i dont want you in here as we are changing her, Leave." I was more then insulted by this as there were two other men nurses in there that were allowed to remain during her changing. Either the doc thinks so little of the lab that even though she ORDERED this be done right away she would rather her labs wait while she get a gown on or she just was not thinking ( i find that hard to believe). I find this hypocritical as the other 2 men were allowed to stay in there so im not sure what to think of this. I love health care even though im just a Phleb i really do enjoy waking up everyday to go to work,but im becoming discourage because i think as a guy in the nursing field im going to be facing up hill battles with everyone all the time. It doesn’t help that i look 15 years old either its hard to be taken seriously haha

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I think it is all about your attitude. If you go into a patient's room like you know what you are doing, and that it is totally professional...you should be okay. There are always going to be a few female patients that prefer a female, but the majority will be okay with it. (keep in mind that the patients are already hesitant to let a student do anything to them and being a male will only make it worse.) But if you maintain a very professional attitude it will take you a lot farther. Most of the post partum patients are so used to having nurses, doctors, and students in and out of their rooms looking at their private areas that they soon won't care what gender you are. Good luck in nursing school!!!

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Back in 1975 we had 8 male nurses in my class and they did everything the female nursing students did (including OB rotation).

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Specializes in Rehab, LTC, Peds, Hospice.

I think it's discrimination and should not be tolerated. I had a male CNA assist a LOL to the bathroom. When he returned to help her off, the son appeared and objected. He wanted the other female cna to stop passing out trays and help or me to stop doing my meds. I explained to him nicely that we could try to accomodate her if needed but she would have to wait. Then I asked her if she minded having a male cna. She said no, end of story.

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When my husband was in nursing school (ADN), he had no problems with this, including his OB rotation. Now, in practice, he and his female coworkers agree to help each other out - he will do the male Foleys, the women the female Foleys. Likewise, he will never be alone with a female patient in any situation (e.g, bedbath - he works in ICU) where accusations could be made.

This may sound paranoid - but a male nurse in another ICU was recently accused of sodomizing (!) a female patient, who was sedated and apparently having hallucinations* (the case was dismissed, but not without causing the nurse a lot of trouble - and legal expense - and putting all other male nurses on notice... :o ) Male doctors always have a female present in certain situations, and male nurses would be wise to keep that in mind.

Not trying to scare you, I encourage you to go into nursing, just be wise.

DeLana

*This was in an ICU, pt on a vent, with female staff nearby. The pt's family made the accusations based on what pt had told them.

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Specializes in CVICU.

You hit the nail on the head, as did NREMT-P/RN. It's not the reality that will get you ... the accusation can destroy you. Truth has nothing to do with it. I am male, I've completed my OB rotations with full particiation and no problems. The only Foley's I've ever started have been on females. (And to the very early poster ... no child birth is not arousing)

I was quaking in my boots going into OB clinicals but mmy instructor was very supportive. It worked out fine.

I have been teaming up with other students during clinicals in order to get the morning care stuff out of the way. My plan is to talk to the staff on whatever unit I first start working on to see if some of the RN's would do the same. I'll just try never to get myself into a situation where it's my word against a female patient. I'll always try to have a witness around. I also run rescue with a local ambulance squad. We have specific protocols we have to follow that have been designed to protect male crews against accusations from female patients. The reverse accusations are basiclaly unheard of.

I hear everyone's point on all the "we're all equal here" stuff but I'm not taking the bait. Maybe I'm just an old school guy, but I have to believe that a male would have a much more difficult time in front of a jury and would be much more likely dismissed from his job than would a female being accused of the same thing. It seems to me that we're held under much more suspicion and scrutiny in these matters. That's not a value judgement - just an observation.

Even with all that said - I'm still taking the NCLEX this summer and heading for the ICU. I think it's a manageable risk.

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