I will post this as a poll. I will be voting yes, they should. Not only do I think it's common courtesy and a gentlemanly thing to do, but I think I have solid infection control rationale.
Think of it it. If a woman has to put down the seat before doing her business, she will be contaminating her hands, and then she has to wipe herself 'down there'. Maybe she is menstruating and has to perform an invasive procedure with a tampon.
On the other hand, men only have to aim and fire, maybe briefly touching the external part of their organ of urination. There is no chance of the men folk performing an invasive procedure.
I bring this up because it has become an issue in our workplace. Someone keeps leaving the seat up!
Hmmm...probably not too many female combat vets here, but my DW is one. Her biggest complaint about her year in Iraq during the initial invasion? It wasn't the bad chow or the rocket/mortar attacks. It was the lack of toilet facilities. The "toilet" was an open trench. No walls, no doors, no curtains, just a hole in the sand. Just straddle the trench, let it all hang out and go. When the trench was full it was doused with diesel fuel and set on fire. You never, never, ever wanted to be downwind of that. Seat up or seat down? She no longer cares.
As a man, I vote "yes" because the rationale of the OP makes sense to me and because it's the way I was raised. I incurred much bodily harm as a result of my sister sitting down inside of the commode because I forgot to put seat down after using the toilet in the middle of the night. Those black eyes and busted lips were usually preceded by a string of words I dare not repeat. So now, it's just habit. It was literally BEATEN into my being. For anyone familiar with Stan on South Park....Shelly was my sister. Orthodontic headgear and all.
I'm surprised this is being discussed. I tend my own bathroom habits with no expectation of assistance from anyone. When I hear a woman complain about the toilet seat being left up, I assume they're forfeiting any future argument about gender equality.
OP, after contemplating your question for a wee () bit I’ve come to the conclusion that the answer to your question should be based on probability.
If the chance that the next person to use the toilet will want the seat down is greater than 50% then it should be left in that position by the previous user. If the likelihood however is more than 50% that the next person using it will be standing up, then the seat should be left/or put in the up position. I mean, not only is this rational but it’s also polite to a maximum number of future toilet users. You can’t beat that.
Well, women always sit. Men sometimes sit and sometimes stand, so here we need to figure out the correct pee/poo ratio for gentlemen.
Since I have absolutely no desire to actually research this, let’s call it 3:1. You also need to know how many men and women use this particular facility in order for this to work. For practical reasons we assume that the total number of visits made by each individual man and woman is the same.
So let’s say that this fictitious hospital floor has 75% female nurses and 25% male nurses, and assume that physicians, housekeeping, CNA’s, dietary staff, occupational therapy etc. etc. etc. use some other place for their elimination needs.
Well…
Sitting down = (0.75*1) + (0.25*0.25) = 0.8125
So there’s roughly an 81% chance that the next person to use the toilet will want the seat down.
Voilà, problem solved. You can't argue with math
(The scale tips when men reach a percentage of 66.7 of the total toilet using population and in that situation the proper and polite course of action would be for everyone to always leave/position the seat up when done).
(I'm not being entirely serious about this whole thing )
Specializes in EDUCATION;HOMECARE;MATERNAL-CHILD; PSYCH.
I bring this up because it has become an issue in our workplace. Someone keeps leaving the seat up!
Could it be the docs or other male members of the unit like the housekeepers, etc? Why must we just assume that it has to be the male nurses?
In our staff bathroom, the seat is always up. The nurses kept complaining. One of our nurses put a posting in the bathroom. The post says "PLEASE PUT ME DOWN."
We thought that was hilarious until the next day when somebody posted below the posting,
Could it be the docs or other male members of the unit like the housekeepers, etc? Why must we just assume that it has to be the male nurses?
I worked a shift with all women the other day and it was great. Sure, we were serious during the code and made sure things were clean and small gloves were stocked, but most importantly, the seat was always down.
Don't tell me this is sexist. I just wanted to share about a great shift that I had.
I worked a shift with all women the other day and it was great. Sure, we were serious during the code and made sure things were clean and small gloves were stocked, but most importantly, the seat was always down.
Don't tell me this is sexist. I just wanted to share about a great shift that I had.
haha. seriously? The vast majority of women I hear will ALWAYS say they are happier when there are men on the shift. I personally like working with both sexes. I like the variety and appreciate what everyone brings to the table.
On my floor, we actually have a restroom designated for our female staff, with two toilets in it, and one designated for male staff which is much smaller with one toilet. Women always use it anyway though, and usually use it for......let's say........number 2. Funny thing is I've heard them complain about someone leaving the seat up in the MALE restroom because they wanted to take a dump in it. So even though we have our own toilet, we still get griped at about the stupid seat and then get our restroom stink bombed on top of it all.
Nice, ladies, nice.
Just deal with your own toilet seat and we'll do the same. We're all big kids now.
Specializes in Psych. Violence & Suicide prevention..
In our house, we all close the toilets before flushing. This way there is less airborn waste and nobody becomes the target of leaving the seat up or down. Win/win outcome.
Maybe I'm crazy but I thought everybody flushed public toilets with their feet, unless it's the kind with a regular little handle because those are easier with a wad of toilet paper.
I also thought most people didn't actually cop a squat on the seat. There are times you need to have a seat, but certainly not for every visit and not if it can wait. I don't care if it's up or down because no part of me will touch any part of it. Splatter will be wiped before I exit because I don't want to have the person who comes after me to think of me the way that I think of most of the non-wiping sprinkler slobs that come before me.
) bit I’ve come to the conclusion that the answer to your question should be based on probability. 
HarryTheCat, MSN, RN
152 Posts
Hmmm...probably not too many female combat vets here, but my DW is one. Her biggest complaint about her year in Iraq during the initial invasion? It wasn't the bad chow or the rocket/mortar attacks. It was the lack of toilet facilities. The "toilet" was an open trench. No walls, no doors, no curtains, just a hole in the sand. Just straddle the trench, let it all hang out and go. When the trench was full it was doused with diesel fuel and set on fire. You never, never, ever wanted to be downwind of that. Seat up or seat down? She no longer cares.