Men can't give complete baths?

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This topic came up today at work. Apparently our management has decided to no longer allow the male staff to give complete baths to female patients. In other words, if all of a male CNA's patients are women, the next shift is then stuck with all the baths? Yet women can still bathe both men and women.

I was just wondering if anyone else has had this policy in their workplace and how it was made to work out fairly. Thoughts and opinions?

Specializes in Post Anesthesia.

Every time I think the practice of nursing has finally grown up I find a thread like this one. Welcone to the 1890s! As a man in nursing this type of question has come up off and on most of my 25 years in practice. My general opinion is if a patient is so impaired that they can't do thier own peri care then they aren't likely to care who is doing it, if they are able to do thier own peri care-man or woman-then common sense says you let them do it themselves. In 25 years I have had 2 patients that voiced an objection to my providing personal care and 1 that made a complaint that I was inappropriate with her (she was in her late 70s- not my type). It comes with the territory, just like the "naughty nurse" persona does for the female nurses. Most times we try to make assignments so that personal care is done "same sex" for the comfort of the patients, but it is far from the rule. I hope your institution grows up and gets thier corporate minds out of the junior high locker room. Maybe you can use this to your advantage- with this rule in place I think you can demand 3-4 more NAs for your shift to stay in compliance. That way instead of being tied up with bed baths you can use your time providing the interventions that require a nursing licence!

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Specializes in Home Care, Hospice, OB.
ah the "member prejudice" at work again..... at the facility that i work at the guy nurses (all two of us) are not even allowed to take teenage girls as our patients. this is a sad but understandable dilemma.

everyone knows that anyone with a member is a lust crazed maniac who dreams of peri-care! come on, grow up!

there are plenty of available crotches in the real world...no nurse or tech gets into the field because they get their jollies doing rountine nursing care. if we find a rare pervert of any gender, they need prosecution. otherwise, can we ditch the ancient idea that men can't ever think beyond their own sexual needs?:angryfire

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Ah the "member prejudice" at work again..... At the facility that I work at the guy nurses (all two of us) are not even allowed to take teenage girls as our patients. This is a sad but understandable dilemma.

"Sad but understandable"? Sounds like you have given in to acceptance of this practice. Therefore, it is likely to continue.

I'll bet that the female nurses where you work aren't restricted from taking teenage male patients.

Suppose many years ago, when women weren't allowed to vote, the attitude was "it's sad but understandable." If that were the case, that's the way it would still be.

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Did they tell you why? I would think it would take more than just one complaint, but that might depend on what type of complaint it was. Either way, it's crap. Did they also bar all male OB/GYNs from practicing at the hospital? And all male ER and ICU nurses from inserting urgently needed Foleys into female patients? And of course, I assume that female staff are no longer allowed to bathe/change/catheterize/etc. any male patients, right? If they have not instituted all of those policies, then there is discrimination of some type going on. Now, if one patient requests that he/she be cared for by an all same-gendered staff, and if her needs are not emergent, I can see the hospital making the effort to accomodate her - I saw a sign on a door at my hospital recently requesting that no males enter without a chaperone for a Muslim pt, and that was a reasonable request as long as the pt isn't coding. Hospital-wide? I don't see how it will work in practice. Good luck getting the policy changed.

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Specializes in Peds Rehab, Informatics.
"Sad but understandable"? Sounds like you have given in to acceptance of this practice. Therefore, it is likely to continue.

I'll bet that the female nurses where you work aren't restricted from taking teenage male patients.

Suppose many years ago, when women weren't allowed to vote, the attitude was "it's sad but understandable." If that were the case, that's the way it would still be.

I guess you could say that after six years of having little old ladies refuse for me to bathe them or take them to the bathroom, I have developed a bit of a defeatist attitude. Also, you must understand that the majority of sexual assaults are indeed done by men. Concerning teenagers, I am just saying that if I were a parent, I would not want my daughter to have her I and O cath done by a young man who looks like he himself is a teenager. Yes, the female nurses do take male patients but often times, they will give them to me if they have personal care to be done. I didn't say it was right or fair, just understandable. Hope this clarifies my position

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To make it a blanket rule is just crazy. Bet this would be the type of management that would make a rule that a male RN could not work in Labor and Delivery either.

And that is such a waste of staff.

Pure rubbish is all that I can call it.

Would be a place where I would never, ever consider working. Just for that ridiculous rule.

A nurse is a nurse, and gender or anything else should not be coming into play. If a specific patient has a request, that is one thing and the patient is entitled to that; but for management to come up with that rule, just stupid.

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I too disagree with the "sad but understandable" view.

When I walk into that room, I am a professional and expect to be treated as such. The only thing I found "sad but understandable" during my nursing school rotations were women giving birth who didn't want me in the room.

But for routine care on anything else I can't think of anything as "sad but understandable".

I see it as a stupid policy that makes me more useless and puts more work on the back of my female co-workers.

I COULD understand teaming a male with a female to do the job...that would provide the chaperone and we'd move quicker as a team...not putting any undue stess on my female co-workers.

But this as it stands is not understandable by any means. It's stupid, plain and simple. It's as stupid as press ganey, it's as stupid as handing out vouchers for free coffee to people in the ER who had to wait longer than 30 mins, and it's as stupid as any other customer service BS that doesn't recoginize that what a PATIENT needs and wants aren't always the same.

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To make a general rule about not allowing males to bathe females, and not taking into account personal preferences, is ridiculous. If a female has no problem with a male giving her a bath, then I don't see why the male cannot give her one. Where I work in LTC, the women residents way outnumber the male residents, so if this rule were instituted here, it would give males substantially less work than us women, which is not fair.

I just don't like the idea that some people believe that males who go into nursing, or any other healthcare field where they will have personal contact with females, are sex-crazed perverts. However, I do have an ex who truly believed this, and thought that male gynecologists just wanted to work at a job where they can look at and touch women all day. :angryfire Also, my male gynecologist does have a nurse with him whenever he examines me.

I guess that places that have general rules about this are trying to prevent what they feel is a potential problem where a woman could make an accusation against a male. However, if they are so concerned about this "problem," why don't employers go further and not hire male techs or CNAs so that there are none of those "awful" male healthcare workers around in the facility for any woman to file a claim against?

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Specializes in ER/OR.

Yes, it sucks and is definitely discrimination. But I guess guys would have to look at the bright side of it -- less work!!

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.

I believe that a female patient probably made a complaint. In the hospital I work for, many of the cultures do not wish for a male tech or even a male physician or nurse to touch them. And, there are also the patients that are opportunists. I happen to think that it should be a patient to patient basis as well, because this can drain a resource easily.

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I think we should be making more patients accountable for their own bathing and peri care to start with and this wouldn't be an issue. CNA's especially have a bad habit of wanting to bathe everyone themselves because it is faster than allowing the patient to do it on their own.

My philosophy when I bathe - if you have at least one hand that can move - you're bathing everything you can reach and I'll come back in a little while to get your back and the parts of your legs and feet that you couldn't get too. I don't care if you are man or woman. I don't care to look at people's crotches unless I have to, so bathe your own.

And yes, 80 year old women can usually wash their own crotch, breasts, and armpits if you give them the opportunity, the warm water, and a couple of wash cloths. People just expect to be bathed just like they expect to be waited on hand and foot.

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Specializes in Pediatric Intensive Care, Urgent Care.

This can be discrimination...men can't give baths because of one or two or three complaints??? It doesn't matter!! IF one patient doesn't want to be bathed by a male then make the exception for that patient but to implement a sweeping policy that men can't give baths wreaks of discrimination. The reason why this stinks of lawsuit is because "a policy" says that men are incapable of giving a bath without doing things that are inappropriate...it assumes there is an inherent inability of a guy to give a bath in a appropriate manner and assigns mistrust to the male staff member without cause. I'd be calling a lawyer asap!!! i'm not one to resort to legal issues but this is downright discrimination.

Mex

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