Male vs. Female Nurses

[Annie68]

. I find the total opposite with nurses, though. The male nurses that i know have more compassion, and skill, in their pinky that most female nurses have in their entire bodies (me included )

Really?! I have been a hospital RN since '89 & never have seen what you describe. We have some wonderful male RN's, but they certainly don't have more compassion/skill than my female coworkers as a majority.

 

[Jen_in_NH]

I don't care either way, so long as they're good. My PCP is female, and my OB/GYN is male.

And on a similar thought - bring on the students! I don't care what I'm having done, bring the students in. They have to learn somewhere. I actually had a student do my last pap. When I was a student, so many people did not want students to see them. How are they supposed to learn if they never get to see a patient?

I heard the best line about not letting a student do an exam during an internal medicine rotation. The patient let me do his physical, but did not want me to do the rectal exam, he wanted the male doctor to do it. I went out of the room to get the doctor, and he brought me back into the room with him. He put my hand on the table, next to his (pretty small vs really large), and asked the man if he was sure he didn't want me to do it instead

Jen

 

[Pigeon]

Sorry, but keep the students away from me. I haven't noticed the doctors offering a discount for training the students.

 

[Bob Slydell]

The only thing I care about when it comes to a nurse is that they can hit a vein on the first try. If they can do that, I don't care if they're male, female, or straight off the mothership...they're okay in my book.

What Mal said

 

[malificentsman]

Sorry, but keep the students away from me. I haven't noticed the doctors offering a discount for training the students.

So you rather have a new "doctor" with no experience! Mmm, okay!

 

[DisneyJen0504]

In the past I probably would have said yes I would have a problem with a male nurse. But ever since I switched from an awful female obgyn to a wonderful male obgyn, I feel I would be comfortable with whomever as long as they were caring and knew what they were doing.

 

[Jeafl]

I heard the best line about not letting a student do an exam during an internal medicine rotation. The patient let me do his physical, but did not want me to do the rectal exam, he wanted the male doctor to do it. I went out of the room to get the doctor, and he brought me back into the room with him. He put my hand on the table, next to his (pretty small vs really large), and asked the man if he was sure he didn't want me to do it instead

Jen

That is hilarious! I'm sure his point was well taken!

 

[zulaya]

I'm female and I have only seen my family practicioner for nearly 20 years. He is the best, most competent doctor I have ever been to. Funny thing is he didn't deliver my kiddos...he wasn't on call when DS arrived and one of his female partners attended the delivery and I had a male 2nd yr. resident deliver my DD because she was hot to trot to make her appearance. Aside from that I haven't ever been a patient in the hospital.

I wouldn't care if I had a male nurse. I have met a few and many of them were previsou military medical personnel and had a very competent, professional demeanor.

In my opinion, the sex of your health care provider does not matter. Listening to you and acting on your concerns are priority #1

 

[JVL1018]

I don't care either way, so long as they're good. My PCP is female, and my OB/GYN is male.

And on a similar thought - bring on the students! I don't care what I'm having done, bring the students in. They have to learn somewhere. I actually had a student do my last pap. When I was a student, so many people did not want students to see them. How are they supposed to learn if they never get to see a patient?



Jen

When my son was in the hospital last year, the nurse asked if I would let the student nurses(1 male, 2 females) check his blood pressure and the like. I said fine because it was just general stuff.

So they take his blood pressure, check his pulse, listen to his heart, check his groin(he had a heart catheterization). All went well...and then they STAYED THERE FOR 2 HOURS!
It was like a cocktail party from hell, making small talk. Geez! Get out!
He was in a room with 4 other kids, a big big room, but they stood 3 feet away from his bed, just standing there, sporadically asking questions, or making comments.
Oh I was so irritated-I would never say yes again.

Which brings me to another point-they should never ask in front of the students if it's okay, makes you uncomfortable to say no.

 

[Mickeyroks247]

I would prefer a female just because I feel like she would understand how I feel more than a man would

 

[My2Cinderellas]

Overall, no strong preferences either way for doctors or nurses, I've known great men and women in both professions, and sadly a few clunkers too. The worst pelvic exam I ever had was done by a female MD. If I had to pick, I prefer female doctors over men, and MD training over DO. so go figure, my PCP and OB/GYN are both males with DO degrees. I really like my PCP, he came highly recommended and is a true family practitioner, caring for 4 generations of DH's family. He's also good about giving referrals to specialists.

The OB/GYN is OK, I was happy with the group as a whole since I was high risk with both pregnancies. Now, I see one of the female ARNP's for routine visits, she's easier to schedule with.

as for student visits, I generally say yes. My PCP often has medical students following him. At first, they just shadow, then after a few weeks they start taking histories and doing the initial exam. AFter they are done, they come back in with the doctor, he may ask a few more questions, does his exam, then before saying anything, asks what the student thinks. The doctor then agrees or says, no - you need to look again and shows the student what to look for. If we've had a run of ear infections, I might be in there 3-4 times in one month, and get to see how the student progresses. There have been 1 or 2 that just didn't seem to have the knack of working with patients, most have been very good to excellent.

when I was in labor the 2nd time, there was a male paramedic student shadowing my nurse. I agreed to let him be in the room and examine me - I'm not an overly modest person and frankly, when I am in labor, you can march a parade through my room and I wouldn't care. I had no fears that the nurse would step up and take over if needed, and she did so a couple of times.

the "can a student examine you?" can be taken too far. my grandmother had a very rare form of ophthalmic cancer over 20 years ago. She was at a teaching hospital iwth a well-regarded ophthamology department. Grandpa had to put a halt several times to the parade of residents and other doctors that wanted to examine her. On the one hand, this could well be the only time they see a case of this during their 4 year residency, but they were overstepping the limits of what my grandma could endure. She was ill and very tired.

 

[Octoberbeauty]

Having just spent some time in the hospital... I was really nervous the first day I had male nurses (and it was 2 in the same day), but by the end of the day they had become my favorites. They were much more compassionate and caring to my needs than my female nurses had been (though they were good too). I was pleasantly surprised, so now I have no problem with it.

 

[mssocks]

Ok - my thoughts:

I volunteered in an ER with lovely ( as in terrific ) female nurses and one male nurse. I have a medical-person phobia, well I would let this guy do ANYTHING for me. He is so compassionate, sincere and kind. He often let me help him. I especially felt honored when he asked if I would help with a woman who was being transferred. He explained that in essence she was already gone but was being moved to the big city hospital. Gave me the chance to back out. What we did was arrange her clothing, hair to look like when she came in and packed up her stuff. I talked to her while working saying we were taking care of her she could relax and not worry. That we would make sure her family saw her looking fine. I did not feel weird about it at all. He always asked the young teens if they would prefer a female - none did.

Now when it comes to getting an ultrasound while in the ER most patients will only drink the cups of water. Then they have to wait for the technician, who will not come in unless the patient is "full". Chris, the male nurse, could convince any woman, young or old, to let him fill her bladder using a cathereter. No waiting, and relief at the flip of a switch after. No hopping over to the bathroom with legs crossed. So Chris could be my nurse anytime. There were female nurses I would never let near me. Some people just have a "calling".

On the subject of doctors - I have had all male PCP's. The last two are terrific. But then again I've never let them do anything beyond a breast exam. Which brings me to the student issue. When I was a child my first PCP was a male who often had students with him. As a child I was never consulted. So when this jerk decided to do my first breast exam without telling me first, it was in front of my mother and the medical student and oh yeah - I was only ELEVEN ( jerk ). Yup - I'm still in therapy.

One last comment based on some other posts. If I have concerns about my nether regions being on display it has nothing to do with the professional seeing ME. I know they don't care. It's about me being vulnerable. More issues for the therapist! But I'm saying that may be what some people feel and don't realize it is the reason why.

 

[Daxx]

I had a male nurse one time in the ER. He was the most caring, compassionate nurse I've met in a long time.

I have a male OB/GYN. When I was having problems and the sonogram showed nothing, he wasn't convinced and thought it was an ovarian problem. He fought the insurance co. for me to have a CT scan b/c he wasn't convinced things were kosher. That CT scan showed that my problem wasn't ovarian or gyn. related but that I had an infected/inflamed appendix. If he said "Oh, sonogram shows nothing, you're fine", I could've ended up having some major problems!!!

I had a former gyn who, b/c she was a woman, I thought she'd be compassionate about my problems but she told me to suck it up when it came to my cramps. Her reply was "We all get them, how bad could yours be. Take Midol." Yeah, but I could swallow the whole bottle of Midol and it wouldn't help! I figured that being a woman, she'd understand and be more helpful and compassionate. When it started getting worse, she said "Fine, we'll see if you have endometriosis, but you're too young to have endo.!" (I was 19). Turns out it was endo. and it was so bad that it left me infertile. She never said "Sorry" or "Wow ... now I totally understand". She was v. brutal about things and I stopped going to her.

I have a feeling my current ob/gyn will be retiring soon, so I think I'll end up going to my niece's OB/GYN as I've heard great things about her from several people.

 

[Cantw8]

i hope you are being funny - trust me you would not want a bad nurse, it coiuld be a matter of life or death. what a very silly remark! a lot can be diagnosed and observed from a blanket bath, nobody is interested in your bits and pieces!

YES...he was being funny. But, he would prefer to have a sponge bath from a female nurse ....actually, I should think his bits and pieces would be quite interesting Thanks for the lecture

 

[Pop Daddy]

YES...he was being funny. But, he would prefer to have a sponge bath from a female nurse ....actually, I should think his bits and pieces would be quite interesting Thanks for the lecture

thanks babe, I wish I was sick and you where a nurse

 

[mommy*RN]

Male, female - it doesn't matter to me...

A pp who is also an RN said it best - we see sooooo much different stuff that it all looks alike after awhile.

My DH is a part-time nurse also and I think he is a great RN. He works in the ER at a local hospital and LOVES the job. I think he is probably very good at it too...his fulltime job is that of paramagic/firefighter (yes I meant to type paramagic - that's what I call him )...so he is used to "high stress" incidences.

 

[VSL]

I'm female and I really don't care either way.

I just want someone who knows what they're doing.

 

[froglady]

But why?? Your male OB sees a lot more than a male nurse doing a sponge bath.

That remark reminded me of the male OB who delivered DD. He would not enter the hospital room if I was breastfeeding her.

 

[Disney Doll]

That remark reminded me of the male OB who delivered DD. He would not enter the hospital room if I was breastfeeding her.

That was probably more out of deference to your feelings rather than his.

Most of the male nurses I have met have been very "tuned in" to female patients feelings about their presence in the room during certain procedures.

I guess I just don't understand why it seems to be accepted that a female nurse can do whatever is necessary, whether the patient is male or female, yet a male nurse must be "on guard" to make sure that female patients want them there.