Male Patient Modesty

[modestwoman]

I would like to talk to all nurses about male patient modesty because a number of men have expressed that they don't want female nurses do intimate procedures on them. Some of them feel that some nurses look down on them when they request a male nurse. Some men are just more modest than other men so it's nothing personal to do with female nurses.

Many people wrongly assume that men really don't care about their modesty, but that is not true in many cases. Many men would not be comfortable with strange women watching them using urinals. Many men in public restrooms can see each other using urinals, but that doesn't mean they are comfortable with women watching them. Many men are upset about how the medical industry assumes that modesty is not that important to them. Some men who desire modesty in medical settings are mocked. There are actually many men who value their modesty highly. Some are afraid to speak up. Some hospitals don't have enough male nurses available to do intimate procedures such as urinary catheterizations on men. It is hard for men to get their wishes respected for an all male surgical team for personal male surgeries such as vasectomy, prostatectomy, hernia repair, etc. Women are more likely to get their wishes for an all female surgical team for ob/gyn because there are hardly any male nurses who work in ob/gyn.

It is strange how many men get their wishes respected in locker rooms that no women be present, but then their wishes are disregarded in a medical settings.

Men do have one advantage over women. They can take their shirt off with no problem. In many cardiology procedures, they don't have to worry about exposing their chest like women have to.

I would like to recommend that female nurses to be sensitive when male patients tell you that they want a male nurse and don't want you to give them a bath or do other intimate procedures on them and respect their wishes. Don't take it personal.

I would like to recommend that all female nurses ask male patients if they prefer a male nurse for intimate procedures. Some nurses actually do this at some hospitals and that's wonderful. I think this would be a great way to show them that you care about their modesty and wishes. I know that there are some good nurses who work to respect patients' wishes for modesty.

[modestwoman]

Not every man is that modest. Each patient is different so you cannot read his mind. You need to find out what his wishes are and work to respect his wishes without giving him a hard time. I encourage you to check out some modesty violation cases that men have submitted at patientmodesty.org/Case.aspx?GID=2.
Some men also have posted their concerns about patient modesty at patientprivacy.blogspot.com/2008/09/male-modesty-violations-special-case.html. A male doctor started this blog.

[Gona_bea_nurse]

lol, most men want pretty female nurses, oddballs but if they wana a male and we have a male we will get them for them.

[modestwoman]

Please don't label them as odd. I encourage female nurses to just respect his wishes without questioning him or giving him a hard time. Men who are very modest don't mind having female nurses for things that are not intimate such as giving him shots.

[reesern1963]

I would say exposing one's buttocks for an injection is intimate.

[maire]

I would say exposing one's buttocks for an injection is intimate.

Agree with this statement.

[modestwoman]

Many people have injections in their upper arms. As an adult, I always had injections in one of my arms. The nurse usually asks me which arm I want her to give me the shot on.

[maire]

Hmm. We've always given the drug rocephin by deep IM injection using the ventrogluteal site.

[reesern1963]

Many people have injections in their upper arms. As an adult, I always had injections in one of my arms. The nurse usually asks me which arm I want her to give me the shot on.

This is yet another example of why I am certain you are not a nurse. Your posts practically give it away.

[maire]

This is yet another example of why I am certain you are not a nurse. Your posts practically give it away.

This is what I was thinking. Wonder why this person is posting here.

[reesern1963]

Sometimes people have issues, and they have unusual ways of working them out. I've heard of people having odd nurse obsessions.

allnurses used to get this sort of stuff all the time, IIRC. They were just really fast about shutting it down.

[WaspyMD]

I would like to talk to all nurses about male patient modesty because a number of men have expressed that they don't want female nurses do intimate procedures on them. Some of them feel that some nurses look down on them when they request a male nurse. Some men are just more modest than other men so it's nothing personal to do with female nurses.

Many people wrongly assume that men really don't care about their modesty, but that is not true in many cases. Many men would not be comfortable with strange women watching them using urinals. Many men in public restrooms can see each other using urinals, but that doesn't mean they are comfortable with women watching them. Many men are upset about how the medical industry assumes that modesty is not that important to them. Some men who desire modesty in medical settings are mocked. There are actually many men who value their modesty highly. Some are afraid to speak up. Some hospitals don't have enough male nurses available to do intimate procedures such as urinary catheterizations on men. It is hard for men to get their wishes respected for an all male surgical team for personal male surgeries such as vasectomy, prostatectomy, hernia repair, etc. Women are more likely to get their wishes for an all female surgical team for ob/gyn because there are hardly any male nurses who work in ob/gyn.

It is strange how many men get their wishes respected in locker rooms that no women be present, but then their wishes are disregarded in a medical settings.

Men do have one advantage over women. They can take their shirt off with no problem. In many cardiology procedures, they don't have to worry about exposing their chest like women have to.

I would like to recommend that female nurses to be sensitive when male patients tell you that they want a male nurse and don't want you to give them a bath or do other intimate procedures on them and respect their wishes. Don't take it personal.

I would like to recommend that all female nurses ask male patients if they prefer a male nurse for intimate procedures. Some nurses actually do this at some hospitals and that's wonderful. I think this would be a great way to show them that you care about their modesty and wishes. I know that there are some good nurses who work to respect patients' wishes for modesty.

Great post. It addresses what is, in my opinion, a very inadequately-respected aspect of medicine today: patient modesty.

The issue, in my opinion, is as relevant to women as it is to men.

For example, as a male anesthesiologist, I see womens' breasts almost on a daily basis. I have little doubt that these patients would prefer that they are not exposed like this. Whenever possible, I try to cover their chests and guard their modesty. Unfortunately, there are many anesthesiologists (and CRNAs) who simply don't give a damn, and leave female patients bare-breasted for all to see in the OR during the intubation and extubation process. (And who is usually found in the OR? Men. Some of whom may not even be participating with the surgery. I see equipment reps in the OR very frequently, and insist that they leave until the patient has been properly covered).

I also see many OR nurses expose a patient's genitalia, AND THEN get set up to place the Foley, leaving the patient needlessly exposed during that time. Again, this is patently inappropriate.

Fortunately, I have not encountered a situation where I needed, for example, a Foley inserted into my penis. But if I did, I'd ask for a male nurse to do it....even if I were out-cold under anesthesia.

While I've only been in practice for five years, I can say with the utmost confidence that patients' modesty and the concept of professionalism when a patient is exposed in a medical setting is, for most personnel, a joke. What hospitals need are strict rules governing patient modesty, and penalties for those who do not protect it, and for those who don't respect it.

[modestwoman]

Great post. It addresses what is, in my opinion, a very inadequately-respected aspect of medicine today: patient modesty.

The issue, in my opinion, is as relevant to women as it is to men.

For example, as a male anesthesiologist, I see womens' breasts almost on a daily basis. I have little doubt that these patients would prefer that they are not exposed like this. Whenever possible, I try to cover their chests and guard their modesty. Unfortunately, there are many anesthesiologists (and CRNAs) who simply don't give a damn, and leave female patients bare-breasted for all to see in the OR during the intubation and extubation process. (And who is usually found in the OR? Men. Some of whom may not even be participating with the surgery. I see equipment reps in the OR very frequently, and insist that they leave until the patient has been properly covered).

I also see many OR nurses expose a patient's genitalia, AND THEN get set up to place the Foley, leaving the patient needlessly exposed during that time. Again, this is patently inappropriate.

Fortunately, I have not encountered a situation where I needed, for example, a Foley inserted into my penis. But if I did, I'd ask for a male nurse to do it....even if I were out-cold under anesthesia.

While I've only been in practice for five years, I can say with the utmost confidence that patients' modesty and the concept of professionalism when a patient is exposed in a medical setting is, for most personnel, a joke. What hospitals need are strict rules governing patient modesty, and penalties for those who do not protect it, and for those who don't respect it.

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts! It is encouraging to see doctors who care about patient modesty. I think it would be great if you could stand up and educate other nurses and doctors how important patient modesty is and that patients should be adequately covered. Too many medical professionals are insensitive to the importance of patient modesty. I agree that it would be helpful for hospitals to have strict rules about patient modesty. I am working on starting a non-profit organization, Medical Patient Modesty. You can contact me personally by going to the contact us page at patientmodesty.org. I can send you a blog that a male doctor set up to address male patient modesty concerns via email if you contact me.

[WaspyMD]

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts! It is encouraging to see doctors who care about patient modesty. I think it would be great if you could stand up and educate other nurses and doctors how important patient modesty is and that patients should be adequately covered. Too many medical professionals are insensitive to the importance of patient modesty. I agree that it would be helpful for hospitals to have strict rules about patient modesty. I am working on starting a non-profit organization, Medical Patient Modesty. You can contact me personally by going to the contact us page at patientmodesty.org. I can send you a blog that a male doctor set up to address male patient modesty concerns via email if you contact me.

I took a look at your website. I agree with a lot of it. But some of it is simply over the top. For example, the part about having a male anesthesiologist perform the epidural. The reality is that we rarely see more than the top of the butt crack when performing the epidural--something that most of us see out in public anyway (especially in this day and age of widespread obesity). Granted, I would agree with you that the standards dictating what is "acceptable" exposure should be solely up to patients.

I would also agree that health care facilities should make more of an effort to be accommodating, but the reality is that certain scenarios require a lot of personnel around, and it can be exceedingly difficult--almost impossibly so--to accommodate a patient who only wants to be seen by personnel of one gender.

When my wife delivered our daughter, she wanted a female OBGYN and we scheduled an induction on the day her OBGYN was on call. She preferred a female anesthesiologist too (even though I thought it was excessive). All they had was a female CRNA...which was not acceptable to me. I insisted that she take any anesthesiologist. (I'm an anesthesiologist, but I was not credentialed at that hospital). So, she ended up having a male anesthesiologist perform the epidural. Our baby had also passed her meconium in-utero, which meant that a pediatrician had to be present for the delivery to examine the airway. The pediatrician was a male. And he watched the whole delivery take place. Couldn't keep his eyes off of it, in fact. These things happen, and often they are unavoidable.

Now, with regard to OBGYNs, I find it appalling that their practices do not make efforts to accommodate women who don't want to have their babies delivered by male doctors. It's one thing to have a male anesthesiologist stick a needle in a woman's back. It's a totally different thing for a woman to have her legs spread in front of a strange man.

Personally (getting on my soapbox here) I think OBGYNs are some of the most indifferent physicians out there. And while I can't prove it, I firmly believe that patients pick up on it, and I firmly believe that it's one of the reasons they get sued left and right.

[modestwoman]

When my wife delivered our daughter, she wanted a female OBGYN and we scheduled an induction on the day her OBGYN was on call. She preferred a female anesthesiologist too (even though I thought it was excessive). All they had was a female CRNA...which was not acceptable to me. I insisted that she take any anesthesiologist. (I'm an anesthesiologist, but I was not credentialed at that hospital). So, she ended up having a male anesthesiologist perform the epidural. Our baby had also passed her meconium in-utero, which meant that a pediatrician had to be present for the delivery to examine the airway. The pediatrician was a male. And he watched the whole delivery take place. Couldn't keep his eyes off of it, in fact. These things happen, and often they are unavoidable.

Now, with regard to OBGYNs, I find it appalling that their practices do not make efforts to accommodate women who don't want to have their babies delivered by male doctors. It's one thing to have a male anesthesiologist stick a needle in a woman's back. It's a totally different thing for a woman to have her legs spread in front of a strange man.

Personally (getting on my soapbox here) I think OBGYNs are some of the most indifferent physicians out there. And while I can't prove it, I firmly believe that patients pick up on it, and I firmly believe that it's one of the reasons they get sued left and right.

I know sometimes ob/gyns will use a CRNA instead of an anesthesiologist for C Sections or epidural. I am curious. Why are you opposed to a CRNA? It would have been great if you could have been your wife's anesthesiologist, but I understand that you were not credentialed at that hospital.