Thanks for the replies. Bleucloud -- I'm not talking about "getting out" of anything. I'm talking about being more sensative to gender. There seems to be an attitude within healthcare that gender doesn't matter when it comes to patient intimate care. The research doesn't back that up. Gender does matter, quite often to the patient, sometimes to the caregiver. It's a topic that needs to be upfront and open, a topic that caregivers need to discuss with their patients. That communication alone may help many patients feel more comfortable about opposite gender care and turn mere silent, embarrassed compliance into positive cooperation.

I'm also curious as a scholar about these "socially acceptable" activities; that is, why is it more socially acceptable for female nurses to do intimate care on males and not vice a versa? And who gets to define what's socially acceptable and what isn't -- the hospital culture, the nurse, the doctor, or, the patient?

The fact is that there's not much research out there about patient attitudes toward modesty, especially research dealing with men. And it is a fact that hospitals just don't ask patients, as a general rule, about their values about modesty and opposite gender care. They don't ask for many reasons. In some cases they're just busy; sometimes they don't think it's an issue. But I have more confidence in the intelligence of hospital personnel. They know this is an issue, and most of them deal with it every day in very professional ways. But often they don't ask because they don't want an answer because they know what the answer will be and they can't accommodate, especially with men.
You're right, with more male nurses entering the profession things may change. But, as you know, the studies show that a significant number of males don't last in nursing, and many if not most of the ones that do move up into admin or teaching.
I've always wondered why nursing hasn't been "desegrated" offically. Why are there not quotas and incentives for men to enter nursing? Why isn't there affirmative action? Nursing as a femenine occupation is a 19th century Victorian construct. The idea that gender doesn't matter with intimate care seems to have embedded itself in our culture beginning in the 1960's as the women's movement progressed and more women became doctors and entered other professions. Attitudes are starting to change as we realize how important gender differences are in intimate situations like the one's we're talking about.
But like teaching, nursing has in recent history been a female occupation and thus the salaries have not been real competative, and the respect hasn't been there. There are many parallels between nursing and teaching. Those were the two major respectable occupations available to women, and if that's all that was really open to them, a significant number of early women's right's leaders were adament that those would be strictly female professions. No men. Did you know that from about WW1 to the Korean War the nurses unions fought to keep men out?
Sorry to get off topic. I find these fascinating topics from a historical/psychological/sociological point of view.
And lest you read too much into my text, I think nursing is one of the most essential, important professions on earth and have great respect for the men and women who do this job. As with any professions,though, I think there needs to be a better balance between men and women in nursing. What happens with narrown minded "boy's clubs" can also happen to narrow minded "girl's clubs."