More male nurses

[ayndim]

The thread on transvestite nursing student got me thinking. And as I have a report coming up I thought I might do it on male nurses in l&d.

How many of you work with male nurses in L&D? Are the moms generally accepting of them?

Some years ago I did a paper on gender inequalities and found that the law actually permits l&d to discriminate against male nurses in l&d. Is that still true?

I personally can't see why women who have a male dr would mind a male nurse. For personal reasons I will have neither. But what about any ladies here who have male drs. Are you okay with male nurses?

Any male l&d nurses here? Have you ever had a mom ask you to get a female nurse instead. How did you feel? Were you offended or did you just consider it a pts right. No different than a pt not liking you because you had a mole on your nose sort of thing. What about dads? What do you do when a mom or dad asks for a female nurse?

On the flip side, are there any ladies here who don't like female drs and are glad that more male nurses are working in l&d so that they can have a male nurse? I do know one person who hates female obs and was glad her nurse was male.

[mitchsmom]

The OB that delivered my last baby was a personal friend... so with that in mind I guess you could say that I view it as a professional thing and I primarily want the most skilled person available (even if it's a friend with the potential awkwardness that may come with that).

On the other hand, one of the reasons I chose my friend to be my OB was because she was the only woman in town. Skill is first, then if I have the option I would prefer a woman who has the same parts and who has been through the same thing I'm going through. This is why I didn't take the question mentioned above ("I sometimes get asked the "Do you have kids?") to be code for "are you gay?" at all... to me the person just has a different perspective if the person has been through birth, or if the person has kids. Just more to identify with. Doesn't always mean they are better, but if they are skilled in the first place, then I like it.

So while it isn't logical, I do feel that way. Maybe it's because historically, male physicians "stole" birth away from midwives - one of the few fields that women were able to dominate. Which makes the male L&D nurse topic a little ironic... a male breaking into a traditionally female role of nurse, and midwives and women OB's re-entering a traditionally male role where females were once the majority. I guess I should be really understanding! The preference is probably from a lot of things. Kind of weird now that I think about it because I am all about equality usually. I don't even think of nurses as 'female' - especially since my dh is a medevac pilot and most of the nurses he works with are male, so that's the nurses I've been around the most. Maybe OB/GYN things subconsciously feels sexual with a man and if it's a woman it doesn't, so I feel better about it? Maybe it's a touchy-feely "sisterhood" thing. Who knows? Thanks for making me think!

[LuvMyFireman]

I have never met a poor male RN, ever. They all have been exemplary. We don't have any in our L&D unit, but I surely would welcome them if we did. In fact, I delivered in my own hospital last summer, and I had several doctors (male) that I work with as colleagues only come in while I was laboring - one was there for the birth. Medical professional is a medical professional, period. I don't care, or even think, about the sex of the caregiver.

[ayndim]

i would personally ask for a female nurse. having a hx of sexual abuse, i have never had a male doctor for OB/GYN stuff. i had a hard time picking the midwife group i went with because the only docs on staff are male and if something went wrong, i would have the doc. luckily nothing went wrong that required a doc.

i know some women prefer male docs and think they might prefer a male nurse?

as for male nurses in general, all the ones i have ever met were awesome. one of my best clinical experiences in nursing school was with a male nurse in ICU. he was so helpful and taught me a lot in that 12 hour shift. he made me feel confident and never made me feel dumb if i couldn't answer a question. wish all nurses were like he was. i think it is sad that male nurses/nursing students are treated differently sometimes. just because you are female doesn't mean you can be a good nurse.

when i worked as a registration clerk in an ER for awhile during nursing school, i met some great male nurses as well. they were always respectful to me even though i was just the registration clerk and many of the female nurses were snotty to me.

Hey Pepper,

What MW group do you go to? I go to the one on 35th and Bethany. I was also glad not to have to use the male drs. I love the mw's there and still go for my regular, yearly checks.

Sorry if I already asked you this. My mind is only able to process biology stuff at the moment.

[breastfeedingRN]

Hey Pepper,

What MW group do you go to? I go to the one on 35th and Bethany. I was also glad not to have to use the male drs. I love the mw's there and still go for my regular, yearly checks.

Sorry if I already asked you this. My mind is only able to process biology stuff at the moment.

hey! i go to them too. lynette is my MW, but connie delivered abby! small world! maybe you will join them one day?? lynette asked me when i was going to MW school and i said probably never... :)