Can I ask those of you who would refuse a male nurse

[Thefishewife]

Just wanted to know really why those who would refuse a male nurse would at the same time accpect a male

Athisisitst
Surgon
Surb nurse
Jr doctor
Odp

Afte much chat about this on here I was telling oh about this who is a male nurse and he told me about a lady who didn't want a male nurse as which is her right but then went on to be examined by the male jr doctor and then the male consultant and operated on her and quite frankly saw more the oh ever would as he just wanted to take obs the scrub nurse was male saw also saw the lady half naked I would imagin

It wasn't a emergancy op btw

I just have always found this very very strange

In general there are more options to switch from male to female where nurses are concerned. Plus nurses tend to do more of the personal care and hand-holding whereas the doctors might see more but are less personally involved.

I can sort-of understand why women would refuse male gynae doctors/nurses and so on, and vice versa, but I agree with you that I find it odd when they refuse a male nurse to do obs, but not a male surgeon/consultant etc. But to each their own.

I used to be like that. After two hours of the world and his male consultant coming in to have a go at stitching me up after having DD, I consider it a bit of a free for all where doctors are concerned now

If by your first item you mean "anaesthetist" then yes there are some people who will refuse a male one. I am the only full time female in our dept of 13 (the other works 3 sessions a fortnight) so have to come in on my days off for them. Sometimes I do, sometimes I can't.

I refuse to be examined by a man thanks to some personal history, even with a woman in the room, but I'd be fine with someone seeing me, in surgery, whatever, operating on me etc if it was a man. Anyone where I'm out, fine, but being examined, however non intimate, then I would request a female nurse/doctor.

What a Surb Nurse and an ODP?

What a pp said I have nothing against male nurses but when I was 18 I had a bladder op and had stent drain thing in and it was just to personal for me to have the nurse to fiddle with it so a woman did it but that is the only time I refused a male nurse its the personal care I needed I was uncomfy with Drs dont usually work that closely daily with women yes I know its daft as the drs were men who put the stitches in. I had lots of operations and have had loads of male nurses look after me.

Add message | Report | Message poster ArabellaTarantella

Sorry

Scrub nurse

And a odp operational department practinor

OP presumably because there is less likely to be choice where doctors and particularly specialists are concerned, because by the time you get to really needing a doctor you might be too ground down and terrified to object, and because some people feel very deferential towards doctors and might not be able to voice their feelings as well.

I think your language and this thread is really goady. "They had seen more than a nurse ever would" ffs! Do you think a rape survivor gives a flying fuck what a doctor sees? It's about the woman not being comfortable having a man touching her.

I also really hate that type of gloaty "well imagine you were dying and could only be saved by a male dr sticking his hand up your vadge, bet you wouldn't mind then eh?" Of course people in fear for their own lives or their baby will agree in desperation to things that make them feel violated and like shit. Doesn't mean they should have to put up with procedures that make them upset in non-emergency situations.

Don't bother replying as I'm going to hide this thread now. The lack of empathy on here for women who have had horrible violating experiences which leave lifelong mental scars is appalling.

My brother is a nurse and usually encounters this only where religion is involved - otherwise never had much of a problem. But then he's an A&E nurse so patients probably in a different frame of mind.

I would be more likely to refuse a male doc than male nurse as they tend to do more intimate exams and i've had a few crap internals from men in the past!

Generally I don't care though - if they're professional and speak to me like a human being then I'm happy. The last time I had to be in hospital I had to ask for the cleaner not to come anywhere near my bay as she was a grade a bitch to me, so not a sexist thing but a "who is nice to me" thing.

poster AllotmentQueen yes oh usually has the same but I didn't want to make this about religion and was trying to keep things general but even in those case they are still willing to accpect make doctors and surgeons

An ODP is a member of theatre staff, wouldn't be hands on with the patient but would be assisting the surgeon/managing aspects of the theatre. Not sure why OP put it on the list since the most patient contact they have (iirc) is stuff like checking the patients Hx is up to date before surgery.

It's a tad unusual maybe to specify no male nurses but to consent to male medics, but I've done it before. Tbh it was because I didn't like the male nurse's demeanour (had they been female I would have asked to change too) but the male medic was normal fine.

ODP is actually operating department practitioner. They are trained for 2 years (currently) to work specifically in the three areas of the operating theatre (anaesthetics, scrub and recovery). In theatres they have the same responsibilities as a trained nurse, ie giving of controlled drugs, acting on abnormal observations, giving of other drugs like pain relief etc. once on the wards, they wouldn't be able to do the stuff that trained nurses do outside of what they've been specifically trained for in theatres

I am sure if a male dr is needed the n a female is present for religious reasons

and I agree entirely with RevoltingPeasant too

I wouldn't mind a male nurse to take care of me but wouldn't choose one to carry out a smear for example. That's because I have enough trouble getting to the doctor for things like that and knowing it was a man would make me too anxious/embarrassed.
However, I've seen a male consultant after my 3rd degree tear and I've had male surgeons and anaesthetists operate on my ladyparts twice. If it's a non negotiable/emergency I don't give a crap.

I'm alright with a male nurse/doctor so long as he's not doing any OBGYN type exams.

Generally, male nurses are gentler than female nurses. Just my anecdotal experience.

I had a male health visitor when my DD was first born and my DS was delivered by a male midwife. Both were amazing professional people and frankly that is all that mattered to me. Each to their own I suppose.

To me I don't care if it was an alien treating me, but there again I have never been abused and I'm not religious.

I think in theatre it is diffrent because a person is not alone in the theatre. Where as a male nurse will more than often work alone.

It s not like not allowing a female mechanic look at a car or not allowing male shop worker to help in tesco.

If anything, as a rule I prefer male doctors for 'women's health' as I somehow feel more able to be clinical about it with someone who doesn't have those parts. Although I prefer younger professionals in general as older ones tend to be a bit judgey and patronising.

Obviously this is all generalising, I've had lovely middle aged women and awful young men (I see a lot of health professionals)

I think it's probably a feature of my bad experiences with midwives, too, who were all female. When I got to see a man, it was when I finally got it acknowledged that things were going wrong and that they could help, so my flashbacks etc are negative to the women there and positive towards the men.

I've been through a lot of sexual trauma (more than most no doubt :() but I've never had an issue with a male gynae or similar. The whole medical process is pretty traumatic but it matters not whether it's a man or a woman.

I haven't refused a male health practitioner of any kind before, but I have specifically requested female practitioners in the past i.e.for smears. I imagine that people will refuse a male nurse for a variety of personal reasons, but perhaps feel unable to do so with regards a dr/surgeon etc for fear that there will not be a replacement available and this will delay or affect any necessary treatment?
For example, there are usually lots of female nurses available if required, but presumably an alternative specialist of some sort (e.g. Anaesthetist) may not be so easy to come by? For example, you need an op, the anaesthetist and surgeon are male, you're not entirely happy with it but suspect that your op will be postponed if you were to insist they find a replacement before they proceed. However you are able to specify a female nurse does your prep/aftercare as there seem to be plenty of nurses about and it's usually easy enough for them to swap patients where required?
In agreement with revoltingpeasant, I do believe people should be able to feel comfortable in any clinical situation, there are lots of reasons why they may not appreciate a male practitioner. Many women feel more comfortable with female health professionals as I'm sure many men have a preference about the gender of the person doing their prostrate exam....? We should try to accommodate this if we can and not judge or belittle them for it.

I would prefer a female nurse if I needed washed etc but wouldn't care for things like getting bloods taken etc. I wouldn't be at all comfortable with anyone washing me. It is so intimate. I'd rather a woman do it if it must be done.

I don't have an issue with any male medical professional. I don't know why, it just doesn't bother me. I do think people generally have issue with male nurses/mw but not consultants etc simply because, historically, there are male dominated roles and female dominated roles. As always it takes a longer time for general perception to change than it does for the industry. There has to be trail blazers. Female doctors did it years ago and faced all the prejudice and reticence, then male nurses (still a work in progress imo) now it seems to be male midwives who are at the forefront. Society is a huge, slow moving whale!

A male nurse saw a problem that the female nurse passed as being OK so I had an emergency lifesaving op.

Male midwives were generally less invasive and more pro-active. "We need to push" and females said "you need to push" small difference in language.

I have no objection to either sex treating me so long as they know what they are doing and can reassure me.

I'm sorry to take the OP somewhat off-topic, but is an ODP what we would once have called a theatre tech?

Also, Hic, you really surprise me about the male-female ratio of anaesthatists. I only know one (female) but she's of the opinion that there are many women in that field, perhaps more than there are men, because, she said, of the relative flexibility of working hours options.

I don't have a problem with male nurses and can see the confusion where people do but they don't mind male consultants/techs/surgeons etc.