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

Nurses Men

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

I would wonder if they also request no male physicians, and if not, wonder why people have a hang-up about male nurses, but don't seem to bat an eye about male doctors.

I work outpatient front office while in school. I can attest that when given the choice, nearly all of the patients I speak to prefer a same sex provider(MD/PA/ARNP). Our male OBGYN books out a week. The females book out 5 months. vice versa in Peds. Most of the male patients switch to the one male doctor at about 8-12 yrs old. They would rather wait 3 months than see a female provider. It goes both ways.

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Specializes in SICU.

its annoying! you are in a hospital and the male caregivers have seen it all anyway!

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Specializes in FNP, ONP.

Sapphire-

Well nobody wants to do it. It's just a job, and some parts of the job are less pleasant than others. That applies to bedside care as well. Paps smears are right up there with digital disimpactions when it comes to unpleasant jobs. How would you feel if by virtue of your gender you had to spend half your shift disimpacting your coworkers patients? I did 6 paps today and only one of them was my patient. It gets annoying. YMMV.

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Specializes in Give me a new assignment each time:).

My male nurse friends have this challenge with families when it comes to pediatric home health. In fact some of my friends in home health nursing are not being given patient assignments because the parents of the pediatric patient want a female nurse; it does not matter whether the pediatric patient is male of female. For as long as the patient is a child, most families want a female nurse. It sucks when a nurse can't get a job because his gender is against him.

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I have actually experienced this many times (though my career has been very short). Many of our mastectomy/breast reconstruction pts will politely ask if they can have a female nurse. Sometimes this can be difficult as it may be an hour into the shift when the request happens, making it difficult to accommodate. Likewise, burn dressing changes on a newly admitted female pt can sometimes be a modesty issue if the breasts have to be exposed. But trust me, after being there a week all modesty has been abandoned.

Sometimes male pts will request a male RN to put in a foley. I have come across this a few times. I have actually never put in a female's foley because it makes ME uncomfortable that I could be making the pt uncomfortable. Ultimately though, I am an RN....i have seen the gamit of different peoples bodies and it doesn't even phase me. I'm a nurse...I'm at work to do a job...not see my patient naked. But healthcare is a business, we have to keep the customer happy...so we do what the customer wants.

If I was a patient, I want a compassionate, friendly, competent nurse....male, female, black, white, it does not matter. Would you pass up a competent male RN putting in a foley for an incompetent female RN putting in a foley? I understand modesty matters, but the patient should be wishing for a quality nurse over a gender-specific nurse!

I agree entirely, also people's perceptions need to catch up with reality, generally this modesty thing is unfounded.

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Sapphire-

Well nobody wants to do it. It's just a job, and some parts of the job are less pleasant than others. That applies to bedside care as well. Paps smears are right up there with digital disimpactions when it comes to unpleasant jobs. How would you feel if by virtue of your gender you had to spend half your shift disimpacting your coworkers patients? I did 6 paps today and only one of them was my patient. It gets annoying. YMMV.

I think the issue was you joking around with male coworkers about how gross a particular woman's anatomy may be. Totally disrespectful and unprofessional. Do you people not realize that we can hear everything you say through those flimsy exam room walls? Awful.

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Specializes in LTC Rehab Med/Surg.

It's usually the LOL who don't want a male nurse.

None of us know what's happened to that LOL over the course of her life that makes her uncomfortable around men she doesn't know.

I can imagine, and none of it's pretty.

I have absolutely no problem with accomodating a request concerning a gender specific nurse.

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Specializes in mental health.

the issue may be beyond that of mere "modesty". we need to bear in mind the needs of abuse survivors even if the patient has not identified a hx of abuse. if we are to provide "trauma-informed care", we need to get into the habit of providing care in such a way as to not require the pt to self-identify as a trauma survivor. like "universal precautions" which are applied universally, so as to avoid stigma.

here are some stats:

who are the victims? | rainn | rape, abuse and incest national network

1 out of every 6 american women

has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime (14.8% completed rape; 2.8% attempted rape).

1

about

3% of american men

— or

1 in 33

— have experienced an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime.

1

and this is actual rape - not all sexual assault which would include inappropriate touching, voyeurism, frottage, verbal sexual harassment etc.

given these statistics, it may be understandable why people may have issues around their bodies.

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.
Sapphire-

Well nobody wants to do it. It's just a job, and some parts of the job are less pleasant than others. That applies to bedside care as well. Paps smears are right up there with digital disimpactions when it comes to unpleasant jobs. .

um..no, they're really not. You must not work in a women's health practice, because they do paps all day long, and they're really no.big.deal.

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It irks me some people just don't get it. All this talk of "But I don't understand", "The male nurses have seen it all". :nono: Not everything is meant for you to "get" or "understand". Some things are meant for you to nod your head, smile and do your best to accomodate the patient. It's the patients body not yours.

Not meaning to be "deep", but as someone who was molested.. I really don't want some stranger man touching me. Being honest, I barely want some stranger woman touching me or seeing me without clothes on. And while I realize this is a personal issue- if you're working in the health field you need to be sensitive to these issues that while they may not be laid out on the table or presented to you in a chart, they exist. And whether you "understand" or "get it".. it's a real thing for some people.

The patient says: I'd like a female nurse

You say: Let me see what I can do to accomodate you

It's not about YOU or how YOU feel.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Very interesting thread.

I think we should all remember one of the ethical foundations of healthcare . . . that we have a responsibility not to impose our own beliefs and values upon our patients. If we fail to respect their own stated preferences, we are in danger of violating this precept.

The provision of healthcare is a social/interpersonal phenomenon - not simply a task. Providers cannot establish a therapeutic relationship without some degree of trust. Objectively, there may be no difference in the care provided by nurses of different genders/ethnicities but the effectiveness of this care is impacted by the quality of the therapeutic relationship. Why would we fail to take measures to decrease our patients' stress and anxiety when it is possible to do so without compromising care?

Once, when I was expressing indignation on behalf of a superbly competent Bahamian co-worker after her patient had requested a "white nurse", the colleague provided me with some enlightenment on this issue. She told me that she was very glad to accommodate the patient's wish. Based on her own experiences, if she continued to care for that patient it would generate excessive criticism and negative comments - probably even an official complaint or two from the patient - that were completely unrelated to the quality of care provided.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
as many have said, it is the comfort of the patient that matters most. i can see how someone being uncomfortable might make them withhold symptoms or not mention a specific problem in a specific area.

i'm not a nurse yet, but i've been working my way through this one myself. i used to get really beefed (as a male) about some of the gender-related double standards in situations (and especially this field). in the end, i concluded that women have to put up with so many more double standards than males do, so we should probably let them have this one. ;)

i'm still trying to understand why it's ok for women to bring their small boys into men's restrooms and stand right next to me with my junk hanging out, but it's somehow taboo for them to take those same small boys to a stall in the women's restroom. once again, it's a drop in the bucket compared to so many other things that are far more important. for entertainment i'll just start a conversation with them, "so... come here often?"

that said, my last two pcps were female doctors, and my current pcp is a female np. it doesn't bother me at all, even for testicular exams, finger waves, etc. ymmv

one of my pet peeves is women who bring boys into the ladies' rest room, and then let them run around and peek under the stalls. not too long ago, a little boy was trying to take pictures with an iphone underneath the stalls. i'm afraid i lost my temper with him and his mother . . . . (or female guardian of whatever relationship she was.) she kept telling me it didn't matter because "he's just a little boy". and i kept telling her that i didn't care how old he was, the pictures were inappropriate. if it had been me he'd been photographing, i'd have thrown the phone in the toilet!

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