Men in the OB

ainz · Jan 8, 2004

There are many many male OB doctors. They have never given birth, they examine young, modest women who are delivering their first child. What's the difference in a male doctor and a male nurse in L&D????

OB was my favorite rotation in nursing school. I inquired about employment in L&D at that hospital (a Baptist hospital). They told me they did not hire men into the L&D department.

That is discriminatory. If I were applying today for a job in L&D and was told that I believe I would file a gender discrimination suit and challenge it in court.

suzanne4, RN · Jan 8, 2004

A major Detroit hospital that I worked it long ago, actually had a male manager of their OB department. And this was in a very large hospital with a very busy OB department. He was greatly appreciated by staff as well as the patients. It shouldn't matter what your gender is, as long as you feel comfortable with and can do the work.

Speculating · Jan 8, 2004

Originally posted by ainz
There are many many male OB doctors. What's the difference in a male doctor and a male nurse in L&D????

Women tend to be more self-conscious about their bodies sometimes they don't like to be nude in front of other women. Your male patients on the other hand - "You want to see what? No! You don't have to shut the door." Males just get a double standard. When your male Md's do a pelvic on a pt do they or do they not ALWAYS have a female in the room with them - at least another worker? Now! When your female Md's do a pelvic how often do they have another worker in the room just to have another bystander? Secondly, we males have to worry about false lawsuits on top of everything else. Everyone is looking to gain a quick dollar. It's a simple suit to win if you think about it. He said she said, the hospital will settle 9/10 times just to keep it quiet - male nurse losses license everything gone. We work as hard as everyone else did to get our licenses and these are some of the stupid things we must worry about if we intend to keep it long. It's a sick - sad world out there people not that you need me to tell you.

wjf00 · Jan 8, 2004

I worried about that rotation myself when I was in school. I work in NICU now and I go to a lot of deliveries. But when I need to check the resusitation equipment in the labor rooms, I always have a female nurse in the room. Better safe than sorry, don't need a ridiculous lawsuit.

LittleCatB · Jan 8, 2004

I don't have any experience as a nurse (yet), but from a "mom" standpoint, when I delivered in the hospital I had no idea who was who... I didn't know the student nurses from the residents, LOL. I just knew who my doctor was (obviously)- but it never occured to me to feel uncomfortable around the men working in the hospital. (and when I found out I was pregnant, I deliberately chose a female OB/GYN, so prenatally it was an issue with me)

If someone had seemed uncomfortable, I may have picked up on that and reacted...

Kellie_Atoms · Jan 8, 2004

People wont like this, but I have to say it. I do not feel good with nurses at all. No matter where I am. If I go to the hospital and I get a male nurse, then I always ask for a woman. I don't know how or why I feel that way, but I do. The LAST thing I would want to see is a male nurse while I am having a baby.

I have 4 kids, and I have never had one in a hospital. So happy I didn't have to deal with that, lol

I lurk here everyday, but this is the first time I have wanted to post anything.

dragonfly954 · Jan 8, 2004

I try to refrain from the stereotype of "male nurse",but I guess it would be ok here.I was just thinking of all the nurses in the er that happen to be guys.I'm sure they have to take care of whatever walks or is wheeled into the er regardless of gender or procedure.We have one local hospital and sometimes a female nurse just isn't available.Lucky they have any nurses at all.Why should OB be any different.I think the only time I might object would be if I had a young girl in OB(teenager)giving birth.That might be a little strange to have a male nurse then.

Speculating · Jan 8, 2004

Originally posted by dragonfly954
I try to refrain from the stereotype of "male nurse",but I guess it would be ok here.I was just thinking of all the nurses in the er that happen to be guys.I'm sure they have to take care of whatever walks or is wheeled into the er regardless of gender or procedure.We have one local hospital and sometimes a female nurse just isn't available.Lucky they have any nurses at all.Why should OB be any different.I think the only time I might object would be if I had a young girl in OB(teenager)giving birth.That might be a little strange to have a male nurse then.

I'd have to disagree with you on this one. I think that would be the easiest of all times to take care of this type of pt. You couldn't be anything short of business when your pt. has another human-being sticking out one of their orifices.

kastas, BSN, RN · Jan 8, 2004

There are a few male L&D RN's that post on this forum. I look forward to them seeing this discussion and sharing their experiences.

I agree with people asking what is the difference between a male MD and male RN. But, I had never thought of the fact that every time my male OBGYN does an exam he has a nurse step in. Would the unit be asking for a lawsuit from some money-hungry pt that says her male RN did something unethical? We have only once had a male on our unit and I never heard of any complaints or problems with it. But, he was VERY professional and liked by everyone we worked with.

Hmmmm....interesting discussion.

Dayray, RN · Jan 11, 2004

I'm an L&D nurse and I am also a man.

As you can see this a topic of much interest and a not uncontroversial. First Id like to answer the original question then Ill address my perspective on some of the opinions offered.

You have just as much reason to be there as your female classmates. As a student you aren't necessary to the care of the patient and as such you need their permission to be there. My first piece of advise is to present yourself as a student explain to the patient that you want to learn and ask to be present for there delivery. Next you need to study and learn as much as you can before going to your clinical so that you can contribute a little by explain things to the patient. I have been working in maternal child for 2 years now and have had 5 or 6 (out of what must be close to or over a 1000 patients) that didn't want me as there nurse.

I will tell you that in my clinical experiences I was made to feel out of place by the other nurses and students so expect that. Most of the patients regardless of there age won't be as much concerned about your sex as they will be about your being a student.

As for the fact that you have and will never birth a baby or breast feed.... it really doesn't matter I have taught hundreds of women to breastfeed as well as teaching patients how to push their baby's out. It doesn't matter that you cant physically do it your self. You wouldn't feel strange teaching a patient how to clean there colostomy or how to give themselves insulin even though you probably will never do those things yourself. I don't consider myself inferior or superior to female OB nurses but as a man you can use your perspective as a strength just as a women use theirs in caring for patients.

In my experience the gender issue in OB is more of a nursing issue then it is for the patients. Most patients don't really see anything strange about having a male L&D nurse a few are reluctant at first but quickly forget once you demonstrate professionalism and compassion.

As for the teen patient thing... I have taken care of many teens. In fact they are my favorite (having been a teen father myself). They are just like other patients, most don't bat an eye. Actually a few seem to bond more strongly with a "father figure" then they would with a female.

I wish I could tell you not to worry about it but I know that you still would so I wont say that. Just know that your not committing any great crime by being a both a man and a nurse and that your presence isn't as obscene to the patient as many will try to convince you it is. If you aproach the situation with respect and compassion it will be a good experance for you and the patient in spite of the troble you may ahve with other nurses.

If you have any questions please post again or PM me.

Dayray, RN · Jan 11, 2004

In anotehr thread I posted about my first OB clincal experance. I thought it might help for you to read this as well so I pasted it here. Also there have been countless threads about this subject and you can probebly get to most of them by serching my posts in my profile.

I'm sure people are reading this thread and saying "oh no another one!" I however like seeing these posts as this is a subject that needs to be beat to death.

If you are getting sick of these posts thats a good thing. I at times get sick of the subject but it is inevitably one that follows me around. Just as I realize that people will continue to ask me "so how did you (as a man) decide to be an L&D nurse" I realize that this subject is still one of interest to others and to myself really. I also realize that just as people continue to ask me that question there are still people on this board who aren't sure what to think of "male nurses" and some who feel that we are weird.

I have know that no matter how many times I answer the question or how many times I post on this board there will still be people that ask. For a while I was offended by it but now I just see it as opportunity to educate/make them see that I'm just a nurse.

So here I go again. I decided to be a nurse at age 18 got 1/2 threw the program and dropped out because my wife and I had another baby on the way and I needed to make more money. went back 8 years later. When I decided to start nursing school the first time I really had no idea that it was seen as a female role. I remember when I told my wife I'm going to go to school for nursing and she said "really? well ok". As I went to school and started working as a CNA I found out that men were not only less common but seen as strange.

When I went back the second time there was a student in my class that made it her mission to drive off all male students. I'm not sure why but she was a huge source of stress for the 4 of us and she nearly succeeded.

During my OB rotation I was told to take vitals and stay out of the way while my female classmates assisted in labors and cared for the patients. If it had not been for a great instructor and a very special patient I wouldn't have gotten to participate at all. The patient asked me to stay for her babies birth. I hadn't thought I would be allowed much less asked (after all I had been told that patients wouldn't want me). The patients nurse refused but my instructor talked her into it. I did stay and I loved it, to get to see how OB required so much of both medical and emotional care was awesome. It was the strongest nurse/ patient relationship I had ever experienced and I learned so much about interventions and the A&P of what was going on.

I was hooked and I really wished I wasn't. I wanted to be an OB nurse but I was a man. I had been an EMT and was planing on working in ER or ICU like all the other guys. After a few months I got up the courage to talk with my wife about it. I was worried that she would think I was crazy or be worried about me working with naked female patients. I was surprised that she (without hesitation) told me I should do it. I was able to get a job on post partum as an LPN while I finished nursing school.

That was a long tough year. I was the first male to ever work that floor and there were nurses who weren't happy at all. I wont go into details (as I have already in countless posts) but I was raked over the coals and humiliated in every way I can imagine by other nurses. It really messed with my head and I wondered if they were right. Was I doing something wrong by working there?

I stayed and it was because away from the nursing station when I was working with my patients things felt right. I had more positive calls to the patient feedback line then anyone else. I got card after card (some I dug out of the brake-room trash) thanking me for my care.

I did leave that hospital and now work full time on L&D at another hospital. My coworkers are nice and I haven't had any of the nasty things I did at the other place.

in the almost 2 years I have worked in OB/GYN I can count on one hand the patients that have not wanted me as there nurse because of my gender. Patients are sometimes surprised to see a man as there delivery nurse but most of the time they don't know that its unusual. the ones that are surprised don't stay that way for long. Still I know (from experience) that if those same patients were asked before they met me if they wanted a male nurse they would say no, as the asking implies cause for concern. I know with all confidence if you asked them after they would wonder why you asked at all.

People often assume I am gay and I just let them go ahead and think that as I really don't care. Some times its really funny too. there is a resident that moves when I sit next to him and wont make eye contact with me. I think he thinks I like him lol. I

Get the "why aren't you a doctor" thing allot and all the other things you can imagine. When I get asked the question "why did you become an OB nurse?" sometimes I have to take a breath and remember that it might be an honest question.

So to sum this all up again "male nurses" is a stigma placed on us by other nurses not by patients. While some in the public are unaccustomed to male nurses and believe some myths about them they are much less concerned with this issue then are other nurses.

I'm writing this post (and will continue to in the futer) for the ones out there that are trying to decide what to think about men in nursing. I also hope that it shows other guys that they aren't alone. nursing is not a female role. Being caring and nurturing are not exclusive to women. just as women can mother a patient men can be a father to them. It took an enormous amount of sole searching and personal evaluation for me to be ok with my self as a male nurse. hence the saying at the bottom of my posts.

sandstormsdust · Jan 12, 2004

This could probably be in a PM but....

As a single mother of one... with the babies daddy a ____ (can't find a negative appropriate word here) present at my labor I would have paid for a compassionate and caring DOCTOR. The doctor was so involved in process and time limits... I felt at times I was a slab of meat (NO REALLY) he walked into and out of the room all the time, didn't really bother to close the door or knock on it, he told me when to push - not when I was ready... the nurse a female was very kind and supportive but never stuck up for me and I was so "out" (long night, long labor) that I could barely stick up for myself, my ex couldn't give a darn ( he so wanted a smoke) - I think I would have LOVED to have the support of ANY male.... Not so much for the fact that they are the nurse and that is the nurse... and you follow what they say... but, because ANY one who was male could have made me feel alittle better.