Why so closed minded? WHY?

[alwaysthere]

Worked with a male nurse the other night. This nurse is agency and has worked at our facility for some time. He always gives good pt care and is helpful to the aides and other nurses. As I took V.S. One pt. starts going OMG a male nurse! Why do the let guys do this? Dosent he realize we're female!...etc...etc..etc.

This is absolutely one of the most closed minded attitudes I have the misfortune of dealing with...and it happens time and again. Well it ended up that everytime he had to go into the room i had to go with him. And to his credit he endured the stuff she said to his face !...me on the other hand ..I had to duck outside for a few minutes and unclench my teeth... Why is it acceptable for a woman to see a male doctor, a male pt to been seen by a female doc or to be cared for by a female Nurse/Aide.? and yet not acceptable for a female to receive care from a licensed PROFESSIONAL who happens to be male? GRRR

P.S. today i was a pt. had seen the NP about the prob before and was made to feel as if she really didnt have enough time to be bothering with me. (not saying that all are like this,Ive heard NP's are wonderful) anyways saw the MD today he TALKED with me and examined me more than she had and actually got some history on me etc. generally treated me like a human. had to get ex-ray etc. the female tech made me feel like i was going through a proccesor...at that point i had already had a bad enough day and didnt need it getting worse. well the guy actually doing the films talked with me held my hand was so gentle and generally it felt like he cared. i felt sorta human again after that ....well we will see what P.T. brings. Tis truly better to give than to receive!

:chuckle

Kudos to all you wonderful and caring Nurses AIdes and Techs,no matter how your chromesomes are arranged!:kiss

[live4today, RN]

Originally posted by Rustyhammer

I havent' run into many problems taking care of female pts.

I don't need an escort most times.

I HAVE requested someone in the room with me on an occasion or two when I've been grabbed or propositioned by the pt.

And it's not always the female pt. either.

-Russell

Hey dude......where's the braids??? Did you cut them off??? I was planning on playing with those braids when we finally meet....gosh darn it. :kiss

Okay....teasing aside......for now.

I LOVE....AND PREFER......WORKING WITH MALE NURSES VS. FEMALE NURSES as I get along MUCH better with men in general than I ever have females. Now.....no slam on you females or anything, but this woman prefers being surrounded by all that testosterone. :rotfl:

Being a military spouse, most of any treatments and hospitalizations I have been through - or still go through - are done in military clinics and hospitals. Because of this, I have had quite a few males who are health professionals care for me.......and of course.......NO OBJECTIONS VOICED BY ME...UH..UH.. If I had my way, I would insist on an all male staff around me. YOU GUYS ROCK!!! :kiss

[live4today, RN]

Originally posted by LasVegasRN

Well, believe it or not, the close-mindedness is not only gender specific, but to race as well. Recently, I had a home health patient stop me at his front door saying, "I don't allow n-ggers in my home, you have to leave". Ah well. Somethings never die.

((((((hugs surround you from these arms in TX))))))) :kiss

I have experienced racism on several different occasions in caring for patients....mostly older southern patients...so I can relate to what you are saying as well. I have even been known to say back to a patient....Gee, I'm soooo sorry, Mr. X or Mrs. C, but when I received report this morning, they failed to give me your special order for a nurse today. I MUST go and have a word with them because you deserve the very best. Then...I exit the room to laugh my azz off in the nurses lounge. Before I reenter that particular patient's room, I share the patient's concerns with the Nurse Manager or Charge Nurse (unless I was the one in Charge that day...then...oh well..Duh...) Anyhoo....the NM would have a word with the patient in my presence, and the patient would just succomb to my caring for them that shift. But.....BEFORE half the shift goes by, the patient is the one who makes apologies to me for their behavior, stating they were just "raised that way" and they hope I "understand". I just :) and continue on the same course of care and tx that I give every patient...irregardless of their cultural hx, background, gender, religion, age, or what not. I'm truly not their nurse to win a popularity contest, but to help them get better so I can discharge their azzes to home....or the casket...whichever comes first. :chuckle

[2MagnoliaTrees]

Wish you hadn't "gone there" about the Catholic Church. God Bless.

[thisnurse]

mark....of course i dont have an escort but i dont have to worry about my mail patients accusing me of fondling...etc.

our nation has become so sue happy these days.

all it takes is for you to assess one whacko one time and your reputation could be tarnished.

when i do get patients that might be a risk for something like that, of course i bring an escort.

for example i had a male pt who was a real PIA. it was obvious to his doc and to us that he was a drug user. he kept demanding pain meds and threatened to go home and get his own...cant remember what his diagnosis was....as i recall it wasnt something that would normally require high doseages of pain meds. he swore he never used.

in the ER he was given fentanyl and demerol and a few other narcotics tho i cant remember what else. they LOADED him up.

next day his boyfriend comes to visit. he keeps demanding pain meds...i keep calling the doc, doc keeps refusing to order them.

tox screen comes back...completely clean. doc and i thought that was strange since he was given so many narcotics in the er...lol

so i had to go watch him pee in a cup.

when i told him what i had to do he started this I TOLD YOU I WAS CLEAN crap.

i had to explain that he was TOO clean...lol

and i did take another nurse in with me. dude was whacked. i wasnt taking any chances of him saying anything about me.

and i do take an escort when i have to put a catheter in a male.

you know so many of our patients are elderly and confused. i dunno bout you but id rather play it safe.

[santhony44, MSN, RN, NP]

I have worked with a number of nurses who happen to be male, all through my nursing career. I think all of them, without exception, were great nurses. And now that I think of it, most of them were heterosexual, not that I cared.

Now that I'm doing primary care I find that a lot of women these days want a female provider. I'm not really sure why that's so. I always had male doctors until I started in primary care. I decided that I just could not have a male doc I knew do my "annual" physical and then look him in the eye every day!

[mark_LD_RN]

santhony at that is perfectly ok it is your choice. even though myself i dont see the difference since they are also professionals. I have been asked by a nurse i work with once, how can i seperate what i do from my homelife and my wife? I do not find it a problem at all. believe me i can remember my patients name,what they look like their husbands name and many other details, but i do not remember what their private parts look like. I spend as little time looking as possible, i usually make eye contact with my patient during exams, and i make sure they are covered as much as possible at all times

[Dayray, RN]

I am a Nurse not a male nurse

When my patients are scared I hold their hand

When my patients cry I cry with them

When my patients are in danger I save them

When they are hungry I feed them

When someone hurts them I protect them

When my patients die I'm the last person they see

When their babies die I pray with them

When another nurse finds reasons why it's Okay for others to discriminate against me it hurts.

There is no difference between discriminating against a nurse because of her race and discriminating against him because he is male. All of the rationales I see posted here are no different then the ones that would have been used if this were a discussion about non white nurses during the 50's.

i.e.

They make me uncomfortable, I can't believe it doesn't make them uncomfortable, It's just the way its always been, I prefer not to have them, its personal choice, don't they know there place?

I'm not trying to call anyone a bigot. Back in the 50's (before people learned differently) it was socially expectable to be prejudice against non white people. Today it is socially expectable to treat non-female nurses differently.

Excepting discrimination based on gender is not patitent advocacy.

I can tell you that discrimination on the basis of gender and discrimination on the basis of race feels the same because I have experienced both.

Today I had a patient that was beaten by her husband. She was 32 weeks pregnant. She had bruises on her face, 2 broken ribs, a broken arm, bite marks on her ears, hands, breasts and vulva. First she went to L&D because she was in labor. When no one could find a fetal heart beat she was moved to GYN and transferred to me. When she came to my floor I did a complete assessment (Yes this included a vag exam) We were alone in the room. I had the hard task of telling her what the doctor meant when he told her the baby was "no longer viable" (she didn't understand this word). I sat on the edge of her bed and I held her in my arms and we both cried she was only wearing a gown. Tomorrow I will either help her deliver a dead baby or prepare her for a section.

Now that you have read about my patient and how I cared for her I would like you to imagine that 1 fact were different.

Imagine I was a woman

How would that have made this situation different?

[LasVegasRN]

I'm sorry, dayray. I think I am up way too late or just tired, I'm not completely understanding the end point of your post... I'll try again after morning coffee :)

[mark_LD_RN]

DayRay it sounds as like you had a bad day. I have had a similar experience a while back. I had pregnant women come to L&D from ER who had been beaten by her significant other. she had bruises shaped like cowboy boots all over her abdomen, her breast and legs, her peri area was severely bruised and swollen. I cared for her and her still born baby, it was one of the hgardest things i had to do. I cried with her for a long time during and after the delivery.

I know the feeling of discrimination hurts but hang in there Ray,it gets better

[Teshiee]

We live in a gender sexist society that assumes otherwise. If a man walks in a patients room they assume MD. A female RN. Unfortunately you have narrow minded behind the time people. For instance why is it okay for a OB male doctor to come in and stick his hand up a woman's lady parts to assess dilation but not a male registered nurse which is part of a Labor and Delivery nurse's scope? Crazy!!!!!!!

[mark_LD_RN]

you got that right! and to my suprise one of the worst places i had getting accepted was in southern california when i work as a travel nurse. the nurse manager totally freaked out when i showed up. that really surprised me , one would think a nurse would know better!

[Teshiee]

Mark I think it is so stupid! Of all places I would think Southern California would be more accepting but no! They have a hard time keeping staff in most hospitals. I had a roommate who wanted to do L&D. He caught so much grief from it. He was more caring then some of those L&D nurses encounter. I am glad you are still doing it keep up the good work. I wish people start recognizing that nurse is nurse not woman!