Today was a total waste of time at the women's clinic. The only good thing I got out of the clinical experience was a signed form to turn into the school stating I completed my hours.
Whooopie.
It would be accurate to say that the staff was uncomfortable with my presence as I repeatedly overheard the nurse's pitch:
"I hate to ask this but we have a student nurse today and he would like to observe... the student is a man."
[Chuckle] Like I just SHOWED up just to inconvenience them! I wonder why nobody said 'yes' after that? Don't get me wrong. I respect the decision of the client to say 'no'. The problem lies with the attitude of the nurse/physician. Ten clients and not a single opportunity all day.
At this pace nursing will continue to be thought of as a gender based vocation.
In contrast, a friend of mine who was at a second clinic today told me about his experience. The physician approached the clients positively and were able to get several to agree. My friend sat in and assisted in a variety of exams.
The Deal About Nothing
6 years ago
Posts
I read somewhere (sorry I can't give credit) that for the first time we have nurses from four different generations (Millenium, Gen X, Boomers and Older Nurses) all working together.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is that as more men enter the profession and the prejudicial "women only" generation (not all, mind you, just the ones who can't get their minds around a man in white) retire, the mindset will change and the public AND the profession will be better off.
My husband's best nurse in the ER was male, but it didn't matter....he was just my husband's best NURSE.
The ONLY difference I see between men and women in the profession is that, like male physicians, a male nurse needs protection from unscrupulous accusations by female patients. A chaperone for pelvics, for example.
For some reason, females don't need the same "chaperone" for male foley catheters. And yet some nurses balk at doing that and call for the "orderly" if they are allowed to catheterize.
I am more than happy to catheterize female patients for my male colleagues and they return the favor with male patients. Not because the NURSE has an issue, it all revolves around whether the PATIENT has an issue with it.
Most of them don't!
And let me guess, the OB physician was male.
ReplyDeleteYou're good, Hoosier!
ReplyDeleteI spoke to that student some more today. He and I exchanged notes on our experiences. The male OB approached his patients by just stating:
"Hello, Ms. X. I have a student with me today that will be assisting me today..."
The great thing is that the male physician made no issue.
In contrast my female OB did not feel comfortable approaching her patients and had her staff nurse do her 'dirty work'.
It all breaks down to the attitude and approach of the nurse/physician.
I'm sorry the nurse introduced you that way and inhibited your opportunity.
ReplyDeleteHh
It's important to give feedback to your Nursing School about your placement so that they can discuss this with the clinic involved. If any good can come out of this, I hope it will be that when you are mentoring students yourself you will remeber this experience, and be a really great mentor.
ReplyDeleteActually the very next day I discussed this problem with the instructor. She remarked that they had anticipated some resistance but not at the level I experienced it.
ReplyDeleteI doubt they will be scheduling anymore clinic visits in the coming semesters.
I'm all about the learning experience. I love it and can see myself teaching nursing at the BSN level some day. There is no chance I will be forgetting this experience. Guaranteed.
Too Fat, SN