Should Male Nurse Work In L&D?

I've been a nurse about a year and work on a psychiatric unit. I thought this specialty was for me but now I don't think so. In school I really enjoyed L&D and women's health, I even did my preceptorship in school in L&D. I feel I would enjoy working in one of those areas but as a male I would feel out of place. Should I switch units ? Would patients be uncomfortable with a male nurse in these settings?

Specializes in Nurse Attorney.

Not a job I would want either!

Interesting law article. But in my book, the patient comes first.

Maybe I'm being naive or too idealistic here, but part of my job as an RN is to help my patients be as comfortable as possible with all of what they are going through. They often feel scared, anxious, embarrassed, and overwhelmed - and I care for these needs (and the family's) just as I do their physical/medical needs. If my gender, or my age, or my race, or nationality, or literally anything about me makes them feel uncomfortable or stressed, then I will attempt to find another nurse who can care for this patient. (Obviously if the situation is acute or critical or the patient is in crisis, then attending to that takes precedence.)

These are rare situations but I've always been supported by my charge nurses. It is easy to understand how this might occur more often with male nurses in L&D. The OP seems to be sensitive to this issue - indeed, that's why he brought it up in the first place. He himself stated that he would feel "out of place". He further asked whether L&D patients would be "uncomfortable with a male nurse". The answer to his question is that a not insignificant percentage of such patients would feel uncomfortable and would probably prefer same-gender care-givers. This really isn't hard to understand. The question has nothing to do with discrimination, or whether the OP would be qualified or would be hired. This isn't about who gets hired or who is allowed to work on which units. No one is talking about prohibiting anyone from doing anything... This question is not about legal stuff...

Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.
7 hours ago, Apotheosis said:

Wow actually sorry now I even asked, thanks for your input everyone 

Please don't feel bad for asking, it's a legitimate question. I was a SANE and worked with a male SANE nurse, and we never had a female victim turn down his care. He had a very maternal and loving way about him, I think it made people feel safe. 

kdkout said:

Yes, but the moms (typically) pick their OBs, and have established relationships with them over the course of many months....so there's a relationship there.  If they felt uncomfortable with that OB, they wouldnt pick them.

But in many regions they would have to go well out of their way to not only pick a female OB, but to find an OB practice with only female OBs, otherwise they would always have the chance that the less-familiar male OB would be OC to deliver them--just like they might be in labor when a male nurse is on duty.

kdkout said:

I would not feel comfortable with a male nurse, and no way would I feel comfortable with a male nurse for my dtr.

Well the first part of your statement is okay--that's your choice/feeling. But the fact that you mention what would make you comfortable for your daughter just suggests that you don't like the thought of male L&D nurses. Otherwise it would make sense to just state your preference and not worry about what kind of care your daughter might be comfortable with.

I think this is sort of an odd phenomenon and I do think there is some doctor/nurse bias involved, still. I suspect (but do not know for a fact) that there are quite a number of people who would feel free to demand an "exchange" for a male nurse but it wouldn't be a deal breaker if they had to have a male physician.

As for me, I confess I feel most emotionally safe with 1) whoever is the most competent and skilled at their profession and 2) can at least act like they weren't raised by wolves for the short time they will need to interact with me.

Specializes in NICU.

I am so thankful that I didn't choose adult nursing. Having to deal with the whole male nurse/ female patient issue would be tiresome. I am glad my patients and parents have no issues with me being male.

Perhaps you could apply for some positions and discuss these things in an interview? I would think the manager of the unit would know the challenges of having male nurses on staff. 

I can imagine that there are a range of thoughts on this and that each l&d unit has an individual  culture. Some would be accepting of male nurses and many would not, but it is something to investigate further and not assume there's no place for you there. 

Specializes in Emergency Room, CEN, TCRN.

I had to do like two days in a L&D unit in nursing school, it felt like 1/2 and 1/2 families were either cool with me being there and helping or asked me to stand in the corner so I couldn't see their loved one's lady parts. Honestly, it didn't bother me at all because I had no desire to work in L&D. I think our entire maternal/child, pediatrics, and NICU are 100% staffed with females at my hospital. 

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But the fact that you mention what would make you comfortable for your daughter just suggests that you don't like the thought of male L&D nurses.

I admit I don't like male L & D nurses. Not even trying to hide it.

When you come into the hospital in the middle of labor, you need to feel emotionally safe. I would not feel that way with a male nurse. It's that simple. I'd want a woman.  

When I was looking for my own OB, I had several Drs in each group practice that were both male and female that I liked - and knew them personally from working together. If there had been one Dr I was uncomfortable  with, I would've picked a different practice.  

As you pointed out, I agree this was easy to do since I did not live in an isolated area.  If you live in the middle of nowhere, you may be used to not having choices.  That's one reason why I like to live near or in a major city.  In my hometown it used to take until March to have a New Years baby.    No way would I ever live there.  

I want choices. To each their own.   

FWIW, I have no desire to work in a urology office. There's a million different areas in nursing. I prefer to work in those areas where patients are going to feel most comfortable with me. 

In a perfect world, if a male labor nurse made a patient uncomfortable, you could just ask a coworker to switch assignments.

Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

As a former L&D nurse and OB nurse manager, I would not hesitate to hire a male nurse if he had the passion and qualifications. 

Specializes in School Nursing.
kdkout said:

I have done labor and delivery at three hospitals in the past. 

I would not feel comfortable with a male nurse, and no way would I feel comfortable with a male nurse for my dtr. No way, no how.

I had a male OB once, who I had worked with and knew well and grew to trust. Nurses change all the time. What you are doing is very intimate at a time when the patient feels very vulnerable, and some patients have also had sexual abuse trauma. (Which they are not always conscious of, but it becomes fairly certain during labor). 

Now, with the recent Roe v Wade decision, especially.... Please, I beg of you, find something else. 

There are times when you prefer the support of another woman, and this is one of them. 

I find this absolute rejection of male nurses in Ob to be a sexist and discriminatory one. You won't accept a male nurse, but you will accept a male MD to deliver. Hmmmm. 

1 hour ago, beachynurse said:

I find this absolute rejection of male nurses in Ob to be a sexist and discriminatory one. You won’t accept a male nurse, but you will accept a male MD to deliver. Hmmmm. 

Yep. That’s what I said. “Sexist and discriminatory?” Fine. It doesn’t change how I feel about it  

I also said I’d only accept a male OB that I already knew, felt safe with, had a relationship with. (Assuming I was given a choice and didn’t live in the middle of nowhere.  Which is why I don’t)  

I don’t understand the outrage, and I suspect if you are outraged by this you have not had a baby, or have never seen what a labouring mom goes through, or you are not a woman, or you have been lucky enough to never felt unsafe at the hands of a man.  Consider yourself lucky.  

Again, what is being done is highly intimate when you are feeling your most vulnerable. I want women, myself included, to feel empowered and emotionally safe. That doesn’t happen when you walk in, scared and in pain, and have to get a vag exam by a total stranger, no matter how “professional” he is. 

Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
2 minutes ago, kdkout said:

I don’t understand the outrage, and I suspect if you are outraged by this you have not had a baby, or have never seen what a labouring mom goes through, or you are not a woman, or you have been lucky enough to never felt unsafe at the hands of a man.  Consider yourself lucky.  

I am a survivor of years of childhood abuse. I have felt unsafe at the hands of a man too many times to count. I find the "okay with a male OB but not a male RN" to be a double standard. Can I understand why a woman would turn down male care providers? Absolutely. Do I think that should be extended to hiring practices and assumptions about others' preferences? Absolutely not.

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I also said I’d only accept a male OB that I already knew, felt safe with, had a relationship with. (Assuming I was given a choice and didn’t live in the middle of nowhere.  Which is why I don’t)  

Don't assume not living in the middle of nowhere means you get a choice. I live in a metro area about an hour drive from 2 very large metro areas. You get whoever is on call, whether you've been seen by them or not, whether male or female.

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