Abstract:
Introduction: Nursing is still perceived as a female-dominated career worldwide. Men who enter this female-dominated world encounter many challenges due to gender bias and stereotypes. Most of them resort to fields of nursing that require less intimate care like psychiatry, emergency and intensive care. Very few of the nurses are found to be practicing obstetric care.
Aim: This study aimed to assess the perceptions of mothers and nurses towards care by male nurses during pregnancy, intrapartum and postpartum periods in Mbale Regional Referral Hospital, Uganda
Methods: A cross-sectional design with both qualitative and quantitative methods were used, and it involved face to face interviewer-administered questionnaire to assess mothers and in depth interviews using an in-depth interview guide interview guide to assess the perceptions of nurses towards care by male nurses during pregnancy, intrapartum and postpartum at the antenatal clinic and maternity ward of Mbale Regional Referral Hospital. The Quantitative data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 20 and Qualitative data were transcribed and subjected to thematic, content and descriptive analysis.
Results: Male nurses were found to be 10% and 14.3% of the nurses on labour suite and postnatal wards respectively. Most of the mothers were comfortable with the male nurses attempting the intimate nursing procedures; 65.48% on abdominal examination, 50.35% on vaginal examination and 47.28% on breast examination. Maternal factors that influenced the perceptions of mothers towards care by male nurses were mainly age, religion, education levels and place of residence. Nurses and midwives showed good perception towards male nurses attending to women and gave no complaints witnessed in their experience.
Conclusion: The results of the study identified varying perceptions because a great number of the mothers preferred male nurses over their female counterparts as they were perceived to be more caring, compassionate and respectful. However, religious and cultural beliefs influence perceptions of mothers as some felt embarrassed and shy to be examined by a male nurse. This study, therefore, aims to raise awareness and promote the acceptability of male nurses in labour and maternity units.
