Why are most nurses female?

DiscoDancer1975

Ps..as for midwives. Well, my personal opinion is they should all have given birth themselves. So men shouldn’t be doing that. It is just my opinion though.

Not sure I agree entirely with you as, having a retroverted womb, I have consistently found men more gentle with internal exams than some women...and more sympathetic - - during a 4 hour repair to a ragged, botched episiotomy caused by two female midwives after the birth of our first child. However, I suspect the female midwife who bullied me during the birth of our second child had never given birth herself....

I think we have to admit that in spite of the claims of equality, there is are gender differences that will never change. All professions are open to either sex, they attract men or women according to their genetic leanings. We are still surprised to see women lorry drivers or dustmen, and receptionists are more often female! Maybe things will continue to change over time!

Because girls care more when young - they tend to want to go to war!

It used to be a caring profession for women, having said that we had a male Nurse in our Nursing school as long ago as 1960, there was a male nurse in every intake, that was three times a year.

In my experience a lot of male nurses are often more caring than female nurses. My husband was nursing for 36 years
both general nursing and mental health. More men are mental health nurses than on the general side.

SueDonim
One of my daughters is a hospital doctor and she says she constantly has to explain to patients and families that she’s a doctor, not a nurse or physio or health care assistant. She sometimes sees a patient, explaining their condition and what treatments are available etc and then the patient ends the session by saying something like ‘I’ll decide what to do when I’ve spoken to the doctor as well.’

It would help if all staff wore badges with their job titles on them. A few years ago I had to go to the Eye Emergency Clinic in Newcastle's RVI and I had no idea if the young woman who saw me was a doctor, an optometrist, a nurse practitioner, student nurse or what.

Re male midwives. All my babies were safely delivered by male obstetricians. Not sure why there should be any objections to male midwives, other than stereotyping and prejudice

I dont object as long as women are given a real choice, there are many reasons why some women would find a Male midwife distressing.

Perhaps a nurturing gene in the female makeup. Isn't it the female who is usually awarded custody of a child when there is a dispute between a male and female. Don't shoot me down, I'm not saying it's always right. Though ow many single parents are there with a male carer as opposed to a female. Nursing has been lead by females but is slowly changing. When I trained in the mid 60s there were 3 males in my year of 30. All qualified.

My daughter is a frontline nurse. She did the "old" type training and also was given a bursary. My grandson is going to university in September to train to be a nurse. Don't know what to say about the rest. My grandson is a very caring type of person, and is obviously folllowing his mother.

One of the Archer lads on the R4 soap is applying to be a nurse and it has been emphasised I’m the programme how important the right attitudes to caring are in the making of a good nurse. Male or female, I think they are saintly.

When my mother was in a nursing home, a male nurse gave her a bath, and she was mortified. Told me that she thought all the other residents were talking about her.
(She also said that she had been married for over forty years, and they had never seen each other naked)
I pointed out that the female nurses routinely bathed the men, but she just said….oh, that’s different.
Times change.

allule

When my mother was in a nursing home, a male nurse gave her a bath, and she was mortified. Told me that she thought all the other residents were talking about her.
(She also said that she had been married for over forty years, and they had never seen each other naked)
I pointed out that the female nurses routinely bathed the men, but she just said….oh, that’s different.
Times change.

Well, culturally it is very different.

I think it would be helpful if male patients entering hospital were discreetly given a leaflet to read, with a title such as "Male patients and female staff: a guide to protocols."

That would, in my opinion, be helpful to both male patients and female staff, because everyday outside of hospital polite customary behaviour protocols are not compatible with the necessary activities of female nurses and female healthcare assistants regarding male patients in hospitals.

What do people think of that idea?

When I woke up after having a complete knee replacement a handsome young man was bent over me checking I was OK. What made you choose the profession of nursing? I asked. I got fed up of being a roofer, he replied. Judging by his bedside manner it was evident he was well suited to being a nurse.

I think it would be helpful if male patients entering hospital were discreetly given a leaflet to read, with a title such as "Male patients and female staff: a guide to protocols

That would, in my opinion, be helpful to both male patients and female staff, because everyday outside of hospital polite customary behaviour protocols are not compatible with the necessary activities of female nurses and female healthcare assistants regarding male patients in hospitals.

What do people think of that idea?
Well not a lot.
Whatever happened to courtesy, good behaviour and decency?
Do some people need a leaflet reminding them about that?

not all midwives have given birth, including some excellent ones

MawBe

^I think it would be helpful if male patients entering hospital were discreetly given a leaflet to read, with a title such as "Male patients and female staff: a guide to protocols^

That would, in my opinion, be helpful to both male patients and female staff, because everyday outside of hospital polite customary behaviour protocols are not compatible with the necessary activities of female nurses and female healthcare assistants regarding male patients in hospitals.

What do people think of that idea?
Well not a lot.
Whatever happened to courtesy, good behaviour and decency?
Do some people need a leaflet reminding them about that?

Well, if a make patient is in bed and the female staff approach, remove the bed clothes, remove the gown and bed bath him, well, it is easy enough for him to say nothing and everybody pretend that the nurses have not noticed his private parts.

But if they enter and he needs to do something, like removing clothing, it may be that if, say, they are all in their early twenties, or that he is elderly and they are young, should he say something like "Are you alright seeing me naked?" trying to be polite, or should he just remove his clothing and say nothing? If he says that, should the female respond with "Yes, I'm alright, thank you for asking." or what?

The nurse might well not say "please remove your clothes" but might say "I need to get some swab samples to check for MRSA" or something like "I need to examine you." and thus the male patient might not quite know what to do,

My suggestion was not oriented to informing men to behave themselves, my idea is because the male patient is trying his best to be polite about it all in for him very unusual and maybe new circumstances, not quite sure how to proceed or what to say, if anything.

Are female nurses and female healthcare assistants specifically trained about how to proceed with such activities as to what to say, or how to respond if a male patient hesitates or if he gets a bit unsure of how to proceed? Or are they just "expected to know".

Oh for heavens sake ElderlyPerson -nurses , whether male ir female have *seen everything*- they are not worried by bums, willies, tits or arses! They have cleaned up faeces, urine, blood and vomit and it is not personal.
You do seem excessively prudish about your body parts!!
My DH spent many months over a period of over 20 years in (mostly teaching) hospitals - I would be discreetly ushered out of his room for the more intimate things but he was always treated with the greatest courtesy by the nursing staff. Curtains would be drawn and privacy afforded if he was undressing himself, but when things were serious or life threatening, honestly your modesty is the last thing on your mind.
And yes, the nurses, HCA’s etc were all trained to do what needed doing and respect the dignity and self-respect of the patient.
All you lady Grans out there- cast your minds back tge Labour ward, to ante natal or gynae examinations- where you left your dignity at the door on the way in and picked it up again, if you were lucky - on the way out! ???

Exactly MawBe when training nurses or care staff dignity, respect, privacy were keystones in the training process.

After an emergency serious operation, I was given a bed bath by a male nurse and my mother had to wait while he finished.
She told me she didn’t think it was appropriate but I wasn’t bothered in the slightest. In fact he was the kindest out of all the nurses throughout that horrible period.
If you are really ill, you don’t pay heed to what is in fact a triviality.
I imagine there might be problems culturally when a woman/man of a particular religion forbids it, it would be interesting to know what happens in this situation. As far as I’m concerned it would be just making more work and inconvenience for the already hardworking staff.

It is not a matter of being prudish, I accept that it has to be done. It is a matter of trying to be polite, often to a lady who is many years younger than him. Yes, she is in uniform, on duty and there is a need, but she is female and the male patient needs to take her underlying basic female sensitivities into account. Yes, she probably sees lots of men naked, but that is not a license to a male patient to not take her basic underlying female sensitivities into account: he may well feel a need to try to do and say what he can in the circumstances to cause her to feel that she is being treated with courtesy and consideration notwithstanding the circumstances.

But if, say, a male patient knows that a nurse is going to arrive to give him an enema, when she arrives does he say "Shall I get undressed then?" and wait for her reply, or should he wait until she asks him to get undressed, or what?

I know it is not personal to them, I am just thinking that it can be awkward for the male patient to know what to do or say so as to be polite in a situation that is unusual for him.

I suppose female nurses and female healthcare assistants find that male patients deal with it in various ways and I suppose that they adapt as to whether or not to say anything according to the situation that arises and what to say so as to put the male patient at his ease as best they can.

Are there any nurses here who can give an insight from a nurse's perspective please?

For many women it would not be a trivial. They would not be able to have the procedure.

I couldn't agree more Mawbe. If someone is really ill I doubt they care who sees what, they just want to get well. Yes all nurses are taught to preserve the patient's dignity.
I remember once I had to take MRSA swabs from the nose and groin from a very handsome fit young man. I told him all he had to do was pull the leg of his underwear up but he insisted on dropping his pants. He was obviously very proud of his physique (and rightly so). I however simply took the swab without batting an eyelid. Not sure what reaction he thought he would get from someone old enough to be his mother! It is work related nothing more!

Yes, you said what to do. That was good, clear.

Yet if the nurse or HCA just says "I need to take a swab sample from your groin", the male patient may well not know whether he should move his clothing and to what extent such moving is needed or whether to leave it to the lady to do any moving of clothing.

Are there any nurses here who can give an insight from a nurse's perspective please?

I get the impression that some have.

MawBe

^Are there any nurses here who can give an insight from a nurse's perspective please?^

I get the impression that some have.

I am meaning in relation to whether a male patient should ask if they are alright about seeing him naked. Does a nurse feel that it is helpful if a male patient asks, or would they rather he does not ask, or are they happy if he either says something or says nothing on the basis of being happy for him to do what he feels most comfortable doing? If he does say something, how should they reply and should they thank him for his courtesy in asking, or what?