Male student nurse interviewing for Postpartum..

Farawyn · Mar 19, 2016

I would have no problem with it, as a patient or as a coworker.

adventure_rn, MSN, NP · Mar 19, 2016

Hi there! This isn't really a direct response to your question, but as a NICU nurse I did have a couple of thoughts related to your situation and interview.

First: Although I'm not 100% sure that this would be legal (d/t Equal Opportunity Employment laws), I'd have a great answer prepared in case your hiring manager asks you during the interview, "How will you respond if a patient feels uncomfortable having a male nurse?" You can draw from everything that people have said in this forum: You'd try to be gentle, personable, and kind to all patients, you'd be respectful of patient's wishes, you'd follow unit policy, etc. If your manager doesn't bring it up, at the end of the interview when they ask if you have any questions, I would ask how they would handle that same situation. You want to be sure that your manager will be supportive of you in difficult circumstances (even if that means taking you off certain cases).

Second: MAKE SURE that you do not convey to your hiring manager (during the interview) or your coworkers (if you get the job) that you are in this job as a means to eventually get into the NICU. That may or may not be the case; you could fall in love with this job and be a career M/B nurse. However, your managers will not want to spend thousands of dollars orienting you if they think you'll jump ship as soon as you have enough experience to move to a different (albeit related) specialty. People will want to know why you're interested in M/B, and your answer should be specific to M/B (not just that you enjoyed NICU). If I were you, I'd come up with a list of talking points specific to M/B (for instance, you enjoy helping families transition through their first few days with a new baby, etc.)

All that being said, I've worked with a handful of guys in the NICU, and they are some of my absolute favorite coworkers. Many of them came to us from peds rather than OB, so if this job doesn't work out perhaps peds might be an alternative route.

Edit: Looking back, I didn't mean to derail this post or shift attention from OB to NICU (obvi it's posted in the OB specialty forum), but those were my initial reactions when reading your post. I'm sure that guys can be excellent M/B nurses, and I don't think it would bother me.

Best of luck to you!

runRNmom · Mar 19, 2016

My husband is in nursing school and just finished his OB rotation. He thinks he wound really like doing L&D! Timely post. Update us so I can pass along the anecdote.

Ironic P.S. Autocorrect changed "he" to "she," haha.

BSN-to-MSN, ADN, BSN, RN · Mar 19, 2016

Sorry, you will run into lots of problems; wouldn't it be awkward to meet the surprised husbands/boyfriends? patients might be tolerant, but their men - not so much. My husband would throw you out in a sec.

studentsara · Mar 19, 2016

Sorry, you will run into lots of problems; wouldn't it be awkward to meet the surprised husbands/boyfriends? patients might be tolerant, but their men - not so much. My husband would throw you out in a sec.

Will they throw out a male OB Md?

Again, our male OB RNs have been well received by patients and their families. It's been pretty refreshing!

Farawyn · Mar 19, 2016

Sorry, you will run into lots of problems; wouldn't it be awkward to meet the surprised husbands/boyfriends? patients might be tolerant, but their men - not so much. My husband would throw you out in a sec.

Sorry he's so intolerant. Good luck.

macawake, MSN · Mar 19, 2016

Sorry, you will run into lots of problems; wouldn't it be awkward to meet the surprised husbands/boyfriends? patients might be tolerant, but their men - not so much. My husband would throw you out in a sec.

I think it's a mistake to assume that all men would behave the same way as you predict your husband would.

Personally, my partner would never behave that way. Not that I'd allow him to if he ever tried. I decide which healthcare professional I feel comfortable with, it's not his decision to make.

OP, work in a different specialty than OB/Gyn but during clinicals when studying for my BSN I spent four weeks in a combined L&D/antenatal care unit and my preceptor was a male nurse midwife with approximately fifteen years in the specialty. He was very good at his job and well liked by both colleagues and patients. It happened a few times that a patient requested that a female midwife care for her instead of my preceptor, but they were a minority. Granted, I'm Scandinavian so there may be some cultural differences.

If this is where your heart lies I wish you the best of luck in your future career. I've never agreed with the premise that women make better L&D nurses or nurse midwives simply because of their reproductive organs and the fact that they might have given birth themselves. A nurse doesn't have to have COPD or asthma in order to do well in pulmonology and a nurse doesn't have to be a cancer survivor in order to work in oncology. Same with L&D in my opinion. What matters is the nurses' professionalism, ability to identify his or her patient's care needs and a willingness to stay abreast of the latest research/best practice in their chosen field.

Good luck!

allnurses Guide · Mar 19, 2016

I would not mind working with a male MB nurse and having one care for me. Just be good at what you do and your gender shouldn't matter.

KarenMS · Mar 19, 2016

He sounds like a gem...

Cococure · Mar 20, 2016

Go for it! I worked at a large magnet hospital and we had male NICU nurses...they were wonderful and many nurses who had preterm babies requested them to care for their infants. We had 1 male L&D nurse for years everyone loved him...staff, patients and doctors and again many nurses wanted him to delivery their babies. Don't be afraid many women are competely ok with males caring for them and as a post partum nurse I have had only 1 pt refuse my male nursing students.

Good luck!!

Ard123 · Mar 20, 2016

When my daughter was born, 2 male nicu nurses assessed her after delivery and then she had a male lactation consultant. A lot of women to prefer a female though

I find the paradox of our society interesting - on one hand, promoting gender equality has been hailed as one of the cornerstones of advancing our society. Yet this post is an example that runs contrary . I'll play devils advocate. What if I were to say "when I started managing my finances, I got a female financial advisor who managed my brokerage accounts. A lot of people however would prefer a male though (in this male dominated field)". How many of you feel comfortable with that statement? Now lets reverse that statement "When my daughter was born, 2 male nicu nurses assessed her after delivery and then she had a male lactation consultant. A lot of women to prefer a female though" both sound strikingly similar in principle. For those who believe the second scenario is appropriate, id like to point this out as a double standard . Food for thought

eieiyo · Mar 20, 2016

I have felt in all types of nursing that it's not your sex that is important. If you are doing your job and acting appropriate nobody cares what your sex is. Women have been giving men per I care for centuries!

But if you go "ew" when you do your care people will be offended No matter what. In nursing school we had a couple, male and female who were dating. He would ask her to do feminine care for him. And she did!

But I've worked with some amazing male nurses and I say that if that is your calling, go for it