Originally Posted by
chuckie
What!, A Male School Nurse!
In this age of diversity and equality I find it frustrating that there are still sections of society that are being under represented in Health and Education. This under represented group do not have the benefit of race or ethnicity to enhance their opportunities. Often in fact there is overt prejudice against them. The group in question is Men, and this is having a direct impact on the generations of boys growing up in an environment that is completely dominated by women.
The youth of today are blamed for many things, and much of this is down to the “youth culture”, but can it help that some boys can go through to the age of 11 without ever being taught by a male teacher, seen by a male nurse or treated by a male doctor. I’m not the best School Nurse in the world, I’m not special, I haven’t been doing the job for 25 years, I’m not able to sort all problems and I definitely can’t multi task. This is because I am a Man. Whilst this is not any form of disability (not officially!) or special status it is fact, and makes me very obviously different to many other School Nurses and health practitioners.
The NHS along with many staff within it is keen to remind me at every opportunity of this fact, usually being done in a manner that leaves me feeling like a second class employee, one that is only minutes away from committing some sort of criminal or moral offence. On many occasions I have had it said to me that men should not be nurses and should definitely not be Midwives or Health Visitors due to the fact that men are not capable of having children. I was later informed by a fellow professional that “Men commit all the offences!”.
I have been stopped from completing school leaver vaccinations in a girls school because the girls might have to pop their arm out of their shirt, causing the concern that I might see some bare flesh and possibly, god forbid a flash of bra, and as we know, me, a mere man would not be able to control those primal instincts and no girl would be safe!! I am disturbed, then to hear the very same nursing staff who have worries about my safety, discussing how “sexy” they found the “boys” who had to take off their shirts to have the vaccine and how good their bodies were!! Whilst incidences like this could be attributed to small minded individuals with old fashioned values and beliefs the institutionalised sexism that exists within the NHS can’t.
Working in the NHS the male nurse finds that things are not easy, having to endure the trust polices that allows their female counterparts to complete many intimate procedures on men and women alike, whilst ensuring that they are chaperoned simply because they are men. These same Male Nurses are then subjected to listening to others telling them how they are lucky that they are men in the NHS, and the sideways glances and mumbled comments that they must be “Gay”.
Having established then that men must know their place in the NHS and will never get away without being reminded of this weakness, it is strange to hear me say that it also appears to me that very often male staff appear invisible. It is evident that with some trusts and some staff, male staff are just an annoyance that could be done without. They are a pain when they are around and they couldn’t possibly know how to do the job. Why would a Male School Nurse be able to talk to children? How will he know what to say to a pupil at a drop-in? What will he do if a female pupil wants to talk to him? He won’t understand boys any better than I do and yet I know everything about being female!
I have a Mum, a Sister, a Wife and two Daughters and whilst this does not qualify me to be female it does give me opportunity to experience different situations and behaviours that many other girls and women may encounter. I am aware of my limitations at this point and I am always happy to ask any female member of staff for help and guidance, at any point that I feel a female professional is more appropriate to help with the given situation. It has been my unfortunate experience that this is very rarely the case when a boy or young man asks for input. They are generally not given any choice of opportunity to access any male health professionals, and have to discuss any issues with the female staff who have no concept that they may not actually be attuned to this young person at all.
In many studies boys and young men have made it very clear that they find the NHS an overly feminine organization that does not encourage them to discuss issues around masculinity or gender. I love my job and try my hardest to listen to the needs and wants of my client groups. The number of young men that attend my drop-ins and contact me through schools is growing year on year, indicating that they are happy with the service that I provide, and feel comfortable to talk.
Where it is obvious that a section of the community is under represented within an organization such as the Police or the NHS there is an expectation of that organisation to recruit the underrepresented group to reflect the proportions of the wider community. Whilst this is the case for ethnic or disabled minorities it does not appear to be the case here. As an under represented section within many areas of employment it is no wonder that there is a poor uptake of services from this community, and until recruitment is truly equal certain members will be left wanting.
I don’t expect the world to change over night but I would like to see some more gender sensitivity within the NHS towards male staff and especially male patients. Hopefully if this is the case this gender sensitivity and awareness will eventually spread over into wider society with members of the general public not automatically assuming that all nurses are females or gay men!!!!!!!!!
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