Male nurses supervising female patients/female nurses supervising male patients

[ButterPopcorn]

DP is training to be a mental health nurse. Where he is working at the moment, patients are supervised by two members of staff at a time (nurses/support workers etc). Female patients must be supervised by at least one female member of staff, not two males. Male patients can be supervised by two male or two female members of staff or a mixture.

In conversation, DP wondered if this was "discrimination" against male members of staff as they were restricted in the patients they could look after. He was sort of playing devil's advocate saying that but it got me wondering.

When I asked him what reasons the workplace would give for this, he wasn't sure whether it was to protect patients (?) or protect staff (against allegations?).

Anyone got any thoughts on this? Is it a common, sensible practice for vulnerable people? Is it "discrimination" against the male members of staff?!

and who works with the males on that word then?

a number of options

1. move staff or students about
2. book male staff if reqd

scottishmummy or anyone who works in a hospital for that matter...just curious, i have a question or two.
i've never been in hospital.
is the patients modesty ever taken into account in these circumstances of either sex or is it all about their vunerability and the possible bad behavoir of the staff?
also with male patients , say for example he needs to pee but cant get up, is your modesty simply left at the hospital gates?
also, would a male pateint actually prefer a female nurse simply because he would want his penis to be touched by a man?

I have to been in hospital fairly often for various intimate examinations, catheters, etc. I am a man and never had a man do any of these things - its always been women doing it for 20 years. I really don't have any choice but don't mind.

I can see why female patients have to be protected and TBH I think it is one of the reasons men stay away from professions like childcare, primary school teaching and nursing. I just could not be doing with the suspicion all the time.

Mind you, having to have an advanced CRB check in order to lecture to a mixed class of business school students over the age of 18 is still something that does my head in.

"2. book male staff if reqd"
PMSL! they have a job getting ANY staff to cover most shifts, if you specify male only to the staff bank/agency then you have even less chance of getting cover leaving ALL patients in danger because the ratios are not met (which happens anyway when sex of worker to be booked isn't specified!)

really?you reckon in a recession cant get staff to work
now that would be suprising

yes. every week I work shifts with bank/agency request unfilled, I get texts every day asking for ANY hours I can do. I work full time on the staff bank - which means I am covering staff SHORTAGES.. full time! I always have work and could have more if I had more time to work.

you'ld be surprized at how many people I speak to who are "desperate" for work who turn their nose up when I tell them that agencies I know are crying out for staff

there was a thread a while back about what job people would NEVER do, and care work was one of the most frequently cited ones

and it's even harder for them to fill mental health shifts, so much so that they offer the shifts out to ANY nurses (adult/learning disabilities.. as in not even trained in mental healthy) because they just cannot cover it, and even then as the shift gets closer they'll also offer it out to HCAs because it's better than nothing

.. and that's just when the wards are allowed to put out bank/agency requests, often due to the budget there are bank/agency "freezes" and they have to struggle with too few staff without even trying for cover. Maternity cover is already banned on most wards I work on