Professional Perception Styles and Experiences of Male Nursing Students: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Objective: Our study was planned to understand how the nursing department is perceived by male nurse students, their career selection process and their experiences regarding the Obstetrics-Gynecology Nursing Course Practice, and to determine their thoughts on improving the quality of care.

Methods: Our study is a qualitative research and a phenomenological approach was used. The population of the study consisted of male students studying in the nursing department of a university in the Marmara Region, who took the Obstetrics and Gynecology Nursing Course and completed its practice. The saturation of the themes was taken as the criterion in the study and it was completed with a total of 6 students. Socio-demographic questionnaire and semi-structured interview form were used as data collection methods. The interviews, which lasted approximately 40 minutes, were recorded on a voice recorder. The recorded records were transcribed and content analysis, themes and sub-themes were determined in the Maxqda program.

Results: The average age of the students participating in the study is 21. All of the students who participated in the study stated that the application of this course was different from other courses because the patients were women. It was also determined that they had problems in patient care and that the reason for this was 'patient privacy' and that they were disturbed because 'patients did not want to receive care from male nurses'.

Conclusion: It was determined that the students had difficulties in the application of the course and did not want to work in obstetrics and gynecology services in the future.