What are your thoughts on patients who request no male nurses taking care of them?

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Specializes in Trauma ICU, Peds ICU.

What are your thoughts on patients who request no male nurses taking care of them?

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

I think that the female patients are making the request due to modesty issues.

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i guess the patients who don't allow male nurses to take care of them is solely based on comfortability issues. we have to understand that patients are in the hospital simply because they are having discomforts or something might be wrong with them. it is basically their call if that's what they want and as long as they asked nicely, then who are we to refuse them?

just my two cents...

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Specializes in Thoracic Cardiovasc ICU Med-Surg.

Almost certainly has to do with the patient NOT the male nurse.

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My grandmother was very uncomfortable with male nurses/CNA doing her personal care so we would politely ask for a female if one was available. At the LTC facility I'm at, we have a couple of female residents like that as well. One said she wouldn't even let her husband do her personal care because it made her uncomfortable.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
i guess the patients who don't allow male nurses to take care of them is solely based on comfortability issues. we have to understand that patients are in the hospital simply because they are having discomforts or something might be wrong with them. it is basically their call if that's what they want and as long as they asked nicely, then who are we to refuse them?

just my two cents...

my unit is fairly evenly divided between male and female nurses, although social situations may change the mix on any one shift. we have "murse day," where all the guys try to get an all-male shift going, camping weekends for the guys, "girls night out", etc. the weekend chuck bought his new house, all the guys were over there painting and helping him move in, and mostly females were working. the weekend of charmaine's baby shower, the guys were working while the women went to the shower. there are times when it would be extremely difficult to accommodate a request for one gender of nurse over the other. fortunately, we've had very few such requests.

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Specializes in ER/ICU/STICU.

Doesn't bother me one bit.

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Specializes in Med Surg.

Personally, I don't understand it. To me, it's like saying you don't want a nurse of a particular racial/ethnic group. But, if it's possible to accommodate the person, it'll make the shift easier if it can be done. Sometimes it's not possible, so the patient has to just deal with it.

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I see no problem with it. Personally, I wouldn't be comfortable with a male nurse/doctor or anything.

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Well, this is to be expected I guess. With all of our long held, awkward, puritanical beliefs about our bodies. I know many a woman that wont talk about reproductive or genital issues with their male pcp's.. but would get a brazillian wax from a complete and total stranger, so long it was a woman.

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Specializes in Emergency/Cath Lab.

One less jackass I dont have to deal with.

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Specializes in none.
What are your thoughts on patients who request no male nurses taking care of them?

On to the next patient. If they don't what my care, there is an other patient that does.

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