Nurse Educator Chronicles: Male Student Nurse on the OB Floor

[VickyRN]

My euphoria was rudely interrupted when a staff nurse approached me with concerns about one of my students. "Do you know your student is just sitting over there, doing nothing?" She glanced in an accusatory manner towards my lone male student "Catfish," who was quietly occupying a seat in an inconspicuous area at the farthest edge of the unit.

"Catfish" was entirely bald, short and stocky, in his forties, with an engaging smile and twinkling blue eyes. He was a man of few words, but very gentle and polite. True to his nickname, he was a commercial fisherman, who was picking up nursing as a second career.

"Catfish" appeared utterly miserable and forlorn as he sat nearly hunched over. His eyes were devoid of the usual sparkle, staring vacantly at the floor. He looked as if he hoped the earth would open up and swallow him whole.

"What's wrong, Catfish?" I asked. "Why are you just sitting here?" With that inquiry, the saddest expression swept across his face and he seemed about to cry. I'd seen that look before. It was classic for a male student on the OB floor and I almost had to bite my lip to keep from smiling.

"I'm so sorry, Ma'am," was his doleful reply, "But neither my assigned patient nor anybody else will let me in their room!" I found two or three tasks to occupy his time during the remainder of the shift on the unit. But, overall, he was correct - very few moms would allow him in their rooms, even with a female escort. And, there was nothing that I, as a clinical instructor, could do about it.

Catfish suffered through the rest of the two-week rotation on the unit, trying to stay out of the way of as many new moms as possible. Not too soon enough for him, his stint in OB purgatory mercifully came to an end. He then very gratefully returned to the blissful clinical surroundings of the medical-surgical floor.

[DuluthMike]

The entire census objected to a male nursing student? Perhaps he or his instructor approached the situation too apprehensively. I have never had a problem in my OB rotations with patients.

[Snwbdr]

too bad for Catfish, but at least it was only two weeks....my OB rotation lasted 8 weeks, but luckily I didn't run into any problems with moms letting me into the rooms.....saw a couple vag & c-sections no problemo.....

[FocusRN]

I somewhat agree with the previous reply. After all when a person is made to think they have no options they tend to go with the flow.

However the truth is that patients do have a choice and it isn't right to make them think otherwise especially if a situation may make them feel uncomfortable.

But with that said seeing as most OBs are male I really don't see most new moms having an issue. I must also let it be known that my OB is female and my husband wouldn't have it any other way.

[norman1]

wow. this was my exact experience. if I never return to the OB floor (except with my wife), it will be too soon for me.

[Katie5]

Sad for "Catfish", but kinda made me smile. Thankfully the experience is at an end for me but doesn't change his mind completely from OB.

[belgarion]

I never had a problem with any female patients during my MS rotations with the exception of the occasional lady who didn't want a male giving her a bath. But in OB I ran into a lot of the same thing as Catfish. Even when the moms were okay with me the husbands raised a huge stink. I too spent most of my OB time in the nursery where the patients didn't seem to mind what you were as long as they were fed and changed as needed.

[systoly]

So not fair. I counted the hours during OB, and allthough I understood the importance of that rotation, I disliked every minute. To my dismay, no one refused me. Before clinicals, my OB instructor took me to an emty claasroom and had a discussion with me about possible pt. reactions and we roll played as well. Even though it did not alleviate my dislike, I felt prepared and more confident.

[vlmusicalsound, BSN, RN]

I just finished OB/L&D clinicals this past week. I didn't have any such problems (to my surprise). The nurses and patients were very excepting of my manly presence. I was in the delivery room, OR (C-section), and the postpartum unit doing assessments on patients (yes, including more discrete areas) as well as their newborns. I have had problems in the past, however. I've had two or so patients on med/surg floors that were either A.) hostile toward me, B.) wouldn't let me do certain procedures (catheters and whatnot), or C.) just flat out didn't want me in their room. Oh, well. It's a little bothersome, because I consider myself a professional-in-training and not some frat boy or anything like that. Hopefully patients (men and women) will become more accepting of men in nursing as time goes on.

[Lupan]

The strangest thing is that as an EMT I delivered babies in the field with open arms from the moms but in the hospital they requested female nurses most of the time. Hmmmm.

[CharlieT]

I went though L&D rotations about 20 years ago in paramedic school. I had the advantage of being able to spend a lot of time with the mom prior to the main event because we had no clinical instructor. We were just on our own with the hospital staff. The first mom was in labor for 12-13 hours, I fetched water or anything else she needed. Just sat and talked to her about whatever, made up my mind to stay in for the long haul. During her contractions I held her hand and coached her to push, I had no ideal how to coach her, just picked up on clues from the nurse and M.D. The hubby was shy and just sat on the sidelines. By the time the baby was ready to arrive mom was insisting that I stay during the birth. I ended up seeing seven lady partsl births, spending time with mom before each one. The (female) M.D. saw how interested I was and had me more and more involved each time. By the time I was finished with the rotation she told me that I would have no problem if I ever had to "catch" a baby in the field. I also spent some time with the newborns. I was lucky enough to be with the nursing staff that was very receptive to me, (another crew seemed to give me the cold shoulder). The real key I think, was that I was able to become a friend to the mothers first. Nursing school rotations would not likely allow a 12 hour clinical stint like that. It is a very personal thing for the mom and dad, thier wishes should of course be respected. Good luck to all the guys during this sensitive rotation.

[Bortaz, MSN, RN]

iteachob said:

.and if not.....there's always the nursery (most of my male students seem to love it there).

This is what got me through my OB clinical...nursery and NICU. God bless my CI for understanding and sending me over there where I could learn something and not feel like an bull in a china shop. A fat, smelly bull that no one likes.

I grew to love the NICU in that semester, and am now starting work there. Again, thanks to an understanding CI.

[GadgetRN71, ASN, RN]

We had a male in our clinical group for maternity-he had a better experience than Catfish though. I think it was because this floor already had a male nurse who worked full time in Maternity and was well regarded by both staff and patients. Also, this male student and his wife had just recently had a baby-oddly enough, he became the resident breastfeeding student expert because his wife was breastfeeding.