Male nurse giving bed bath to a female patient.?

[norman]

I see nothing wrong with this but every nurse should wear gloves when doing it. euro wedding dresses
plus size wedding dressesI can't imagine a nurse not wearing gloves when giving a bed bath. Asking for permission is polite and helps avoid conflicts.

[henderson]

Female nurses have bathed male patients for years and no one has had a problem with it.
I am a male nurse and have had to bathe female patients and never once had anyone make an issue of it. Further, I did not become a nurse just so I could a see or bathe naked female.
It's time to get over these issue and remember its about patient care, period.

I just hate it when male nurses ask me to put a foley in. I think this is just an excuse to not have to do it!! These male nurses need to buck up & be professional. When I'm asked I truely believe they are not professional enough to do any nursing. Just the facts.

[Ricu]

I am a male RN and agree with you on the matter of doing the job regardless however, be careful about drawing a hard line on this subject. We should be looking at this from the patient perspective. If we are intuitive, we can all determine even if nothing is said, when a person is excessively anxious and would clearly prefer that personal care be done by a same gender healthcare professional. Whenever it is reasonably possible, those accommodations should be made.

[Dan888]

its not unethical..if its needed...or lack of staff..they just doing their job..as far as they in limit and strident to rules and regulation..

[Chaffey Student]

I know this is an old...no, it's an ancient (by internet standards) thread, but it is still an issue, especially for those of us who are new to the profession. Simply speaking, I am doing my best to overcome the cultural taboos that have been burned into my brain.

Since this is my first post, I think I should tell you a little bit about me. I am a military veteran, and a retired police officer. I received my first healthcare training as an EMT in 1978 while I was stationed with the Second Military Police Company, Second Infantry Division in Korea. I kept up my EMT training while I was a police officer, even when my superiors objected to it because they thought it increased the departments liability.

Even though I have done physical and mental things that are far harder than giving a female patient a bed bath, because of cultural taboos, it appears that this is my achilles heel when it comes to nursing. I am trying to overcome that, because when I attempt to demonstrate this skill in the lab, I freeze up and just can't function.

It's not that I haven't dealt with females in the past. I'm married, I have two daughters, I work around women with the major retail chain that I currently work for, and God knows, I arrested a number of women for various legal reasons. Of course, in that capacity I didn't ask their permission before I handcuffed them, and took them into custody. Some of them were even drunk or high to the point they lost all of their inhibitions and decided it was a god idea to get naked and walk around in public. But for some reason, this is different to me and I need to overcome that if I want to continue in this profession.

I chose this profession because I do care about people, and I want to do the best job I can. My goal is to pursue my nursing career with the Veterans Administration, so I need some input from male nurses on how they overcame the cultural taboos. I also invite female nurses to comment as well.

Even though most veterans are men, the VA hospital I go to does have some female patients. For example, my wife is also a veteran and goes to the VA for care. If they stay at the VA, they will need the same kind of care as anyone else, so I really need your help to get beyond this. I don't want this to be my undoing before I even get started.

[Ricu]

Great post! We have some common background and I'd venture to guess that we're both products of the American culture and about the same age which have some significance in terms of how we view modesty. Working in the direct patient care arena, we go far into the comfort zone of protective space when seeing and touching people and that presents a set of challenges that each of us experience differently but we experience them nonetheless.

Bathing is probably the most anxiety provoking thing that a nurse especially male, will do for many reasons, first because it involves nudity, second because there are so many sexual connotations around the "bed bath" and third because providing personal care for anyone, regardless of gender is something that men in most cultures are not socialized in. I made an observation early on in my career that male health care professionals are more anxious about exposing their female patients than the patients are and I think the reason for this is because the women are used to male physicians examining them. Speaking now on behalf of female nurses, I've heard them say that it is just as difficult for them to get used to exposing and touching their male patients.

In the end, all nurses eventually become reasonably comfortable with seeing and touching their patients intimately and it is at this point that the job gets easier. The more at ease you are with this aspect of your work makes your patient more at ease with you doing it. That said, nurses do have to be careful because they can become so desensitized that they forget that they aren't handling patients and put their hands in awkward places.

A funny story I can tell is about a time when teaching bleeding cessation strategies at a first aid class and was discussing pressure points. As an EMT, you know that live victims are frequently used and this was no exception. I was showing where various pressure points are and how to apply pressure and proceeded to touch and apply pressure to each area on my student victim- including the femoral artery. Having many years of experience in Critical Care, I have a very educated hand and know just how to locate distal pulses especially the femoral artery and apply pressure so it was very different from the flat-palm press that the book teaches. Fortunately I knew the individual and while he was surprised when I put my hand on his groin crease, he was okay with it and we all laughed.

[Chaffey Student]

Thanks for your response Ricu, that takes a huge weight off of my shoulders. Common background, perhaps, if you were born in chicago, raised in Southern California in the L.A. suburbs, and hung out at the beach during the summer time.

One thing we both have in common is that we both trained new people, I was an FTO (Field Training Officer), and did my dead level best at making my trainee as comfortable as I could while they learned. You apparently have that same philosophy as demonstrated by your post. Unfortunately, I'm not getting that same response from the instructors I'm experiencing at Chaffey College. I expressed my anxiety in this part of the learning process, and the response was a somewhat curt "get over it". It led me to believe that it was an issue exclusive to me, and not other people. The problem is, the more I became concerned about it, the more anxious I got. So thanks for that, I think you just saved me from failing.

[Ricu]

I was born outside of New York City, grew up on the Jersey Shore (long before Snookie and the Sitch...), and hung out on those beaches and was also an EMT. I'm married and have three grown kids, too. Yes, I have done training and in fact, am a part time nursing instructor who definitely hates to hear stories about hard-ass instructors. These control freaks believe that no pain-no gain treatment prepares students for the rigors of the job but all it does is intimidate and make them more anxious than ever. There is a time for gentle handling and it is early on in nursing school. Students are exposed to a lot of intense stuff and need to process it safely- like in the lab or classroom. I will tell you this, even though it might not seem evident right now, your experience as a police officer gives you a huge advantage. Meanwhile, don't hesitate to post any questions or concerns here and I'll try to help but also know that like when you were a rookie cop, you will find a mentor in the nursing field.

R

(before

Thanks for your response Ricu, that takes a huge weight off of my shoulders. Common background, perhaps, if you were born in chicago, raised in Southern California in the L.A. suburbs, and hung out at the beach during the summer time.

One thing we both have in common is that we both trained new people, I was an FTO (Field Training Officer), and did my dead level best at making my trainee as comfortable as I could while they learned. You apparently have that same philosophy as demonstrated by your post. Unfortunately, I'm not getting that same response from the instructors I'm experiencing at Chaffey College. I expressed my anxiety in this part of the learning process, and the response was a somewhat curt "get over it". It led me to believe that it was an issue exclusive to me, and not other people. The problem is, the more I became concerned about it, the more anxious I got. So thanks for that, I think you just saved me from failing.

[hppygr8ful]

Hey Chaffey,

We are practically in eachother's back yard. I can give you a tip or two on how to give a bed bath to a person of the opposite sex while making sure the patient's dignity is preserved and you own sense of modesty as well.

I think you need to take a deep breath and relax. A nurse friend of mine always says that when any task causes us stree we should stop and take our own pulse then start. After you make sure you are breathing take thetime to think about what makes you so nervous. IT obvious that you have encountered naked women before and very bravely I might add - As a psych nurse I have seen my share of nakedness most of it somewhat disturbing, but under normal nursing circumstances you can go at this task in a way that is comfortable for you and the patient.

If your consumer (That what we call patients in my field) is conscious and able to help start with a warm bath blanket and cover the him/her completely. Then uncover each area to be washed do the task and recover the area until the whole body is clean. If they have use of their hands and can clean the more sentive areas breasts and perineum on their own let them. ALway talk to your patient even if they are unconscious explaining what you are doing each step of the way.

We women have to learn how to give a bed bath to men -some of whome behave in a quite Randy fassion. Other's acn be embarrassed. Other's don't want a female but sure don"t want a male as they (Mostly older) view any man in the field as homosexual. So you can see we all struggle with this.

[Chaffey Student]

For the most part, I'd like to think that I am helping men in nursing overcome the "effeminate" male stereotype, because everyone I know would never consider me effeminate by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I found an article on the "BSN to MSN" website, that talks about the ten most famous men in nursing. What it basically says is that up until the 1500's, nursing was a predominantly male field. Those who chose nursing, were either some form of clergy, or in the military. Did you know that Walt Whitman was a nurse ? He was a volunteer nurse during the Civil War after his brother was injured. So I'm not concerned about the stereotype, I know better. The support I'm getting here is huge, and for that I'm grateful.

Ricu, I understand how law enforcement and nursing ties together, but interestingly enough, the "veteran" nurses that I'm learning from can't seem to make the connection. Perhaps you can help me out and give me some pointers that might help me help them make the connection. I know that writing a care plan needs to be clear, complete, and concise, just like in any factual report. And dealing with people on a professional and somewhat authoritative (not authoritarian) level is part of the job. I also know that nursing is a team effort just like law enforcement, and just like law enforcement, nursing deals with people who are at a low point in their life or perhaps even facing death because they are sick or injured. I'm also well aware that the public tends to second guess the decision a nurse makes, and nurses are in the cross hairs of some opportunistic people who would love nothing more than to put their finger on what they perceive is a mistake and find an equally opportunistic lawyer that is just hungry enough to sue a nurse for malpractice. I've seen a lot of similarities between nursing and law enforcement as to the who, what, where, what, why, and how a person became sick or injured. So nursing requires some detective work to help a person get better. Since you obviously have worked with law enforcement where you live, I'm sure you know all of this. But is there that one thing I can take to the old timers at my school that will help them connect the dots ? Since I'm new to nursing, as an insider, what would you suggest ?

hppygr8ful, what I did was type out, in my own words, the procedure for doing a bed bath. In my step by step procedure, I make sure I let the patient know what I'm going to do, and make sure that I keep the patient covered as much as possible, taking into consideration their warmth, comfort, and modesty. Did I miss anything ?

The bed bath procedure is three pages long, in a 12 point font with each paragraph single spaced. Before I started this, I would have never believed that bathing someone would be so complicated. And by the way, this procedure doesn't even cover pericare. That's another two pages right there.

When I think about it, I really don't have the words to describe this new experience. I guess I could say it's humbling, makes me take a good look at who I am, and I have found far more respect for nurses than what I already had. I'm glad I chose to become a nurse.