Struggles of being a male nurse

[aririe]

So I will be graduating from nursing school in December. This got me thinking that there will be some things that i just cant do for example what a woman patient doesn't want a male taking them to the bathroom or looking at their behind or other such things. So I was just wondering what tips do you guys have for being a male in this profession and what kind of troubles have you had?

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

I've never worked OB, but I hear that male nurses often feel frustrated with being refused (it's interesting that some women will turn down a male nurse, but have no problem having a male OB doing the same kind of care, but that's a subject for another thread).

What I've most often observed is male nurses being constantly asked for lift help. I would think it would be difficult to find the right balance of being team oriented vs. being taken advantage of. Good luck to you!!

[Orca, ADN, ASN, RN]

On ‎10‎/‎8‎/‎2018 at 6:53 PM, marable said:

If only the male nurses would return the favor...I worked with two male nurses who always needed help with their female patients , even when giving im injections... We not only had to take care of our patients but had to available for their every need when it came to their female patients ....Ask one of them to do a male catheterization , we could forget it....We had a lot of uneeded conflict between the female/male nurses as the male nurses did not offer and showed an attitude when we asked for help with our male patients....

Trades are fair. When I worked rehab nursing, I had a female patient who needed periodic straight cathing for a bladder issue. She preferred a female nurse. One of my female colleagues had a male who she was trying to teach to straight cath himself when he went home. He claimed not to be retaining anything, but she suspected that he just wanted her to do it. A deal was struck for a trade.

Seeing the look of sheer disappointment on the guy's face when I walked in was worth the price of admission. At least I was able to confirm that he had retained everything that my colleague had taught him.

[nursemike, ASN, RN]

On 9/13/2018 at 1:46 AM, aririe said:

So I will be graduating from nursing school in December. This got me thinking that there will be some things that i just cant do for example what a woman patient doesn't want a male taking them to the bathroom or looking at their behind or other such things. So I was just wondering what tips do you guys have for being a male in this profession and what kind of troubles have you had?

There will always be things you "can't" do, or at least have a lot of trouble doing. Many won't have anything to do with your gender--we all have our strengths, and our weaknesses. Being male brings both. My best advice is just to be real. Can't tell you how many female patients have asked for a female to help with toileting at the start of a shift and been glad to accept the help of the person who was right there by the end. A few times, I've asked a female nurse or aide to do something because it made *me* uncomfortable. More often than not, someone can spare a couple of minutes, and I'm always willing to return the favor in whatever form is available. When you're a student, you can imagine all sorts of complications, but when you hit the floor, what matter most are your work ethic and your intentions. Be the guy your patients and peers can count on, and you'll be fine. Oh, and while I enjoyed grumpy's humor, try to have a sense of who you know well enough for that sort of thing.

[yonty]

there are more male nurses around these days than ever before so patients or more used to males dealing with their personal and after all they do see male drs who do far more invasive procedures than nurses never had a problem myself but you have to be aware if a patient is uncomfortable and just swap with a female any suspicion that they misinterprut your actions always get a female second with you .Main problem being a male nurse is female staff thinking your the same as their neanderthal *** scratching husband at home .

[SansNom]

As has already been said a few times: being a male nurse is RARELY an issue. In the 8 years I've been nursing, I could probably count on one hand the times that a female patient have preferred a female. It's in large part how you present yourself and how you make the patient feel.

Sure, some women do actually just prefer another woman to do certain things, but more often than not it's about the rapport you've established with them.

In general, I think being a male in this field is awesome. I've had many, many patients tell me that they have always enjoyed their male nurses, some have even told me they prefer male nurses.