Male Nursing Students Training at Clinical Maternity Nursing Course: Challenges and Proposed Improvement Actions

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Lecturer at Maternal and Neonatal Health Nursing Department, Faculty of Nursing, Fayoum University, Egypt

2 Assistant Professor at Administration Nursing Department, Faculty of Nursing, Fayoum University, Egypt

3 Assistant Professor at Community Health Nursing Department, Faculty of Nursing, Fayoum University, Egypt

4 Assistant Professor at Maternal and Neonatal Health Nursing Department, Faculty of Nursing, Fayoum University, Egypt.

Abstract

Background: Increasing numbers of men enter the nursing field. When males enter
nursing programs, during their training, they can face challenges, especially in maternity
areas. Aim: To determine the challenges facing male nursing students during their training
in the maternity department and propose improvement plan of actions to overcome these
challenges. Design: A descriptive exploratory research design was utilized, Sample: A
convenient sample of (300 participants) composed of (100) male nursing students and
(100) female students who just completed their training in the maternity course in the
Faculty of Nursing, Fayoum University during the two semesters of the academic year
2017-2018. Also 100 of women were recruited in this study. Setting: This study was
implemented in the maternity department in the Faculty of Nursing, Fayoum University at
Obstetrics and Gynecological department in El- Nabawy El-Mohandes Fayoum General
Hospital affiliated to Ministry of Health, Egypt. Tool of data collection: Four tools used
to collect current data: (I) structured self-administered questionnaire, (II) male students'
attitudes towards maternity nursing clinical training (III) female nursing students’ attitude
towards their male colleague companionship during clinical training in the maternity
department, and lastly (V) Women’s attitude towards involvement of male student in
providing maternity care during training in the maternity department. Results: the
majority of studied male students (84%) facing a variety of problems and embarrassing
situations during their training in clinical maternity course, there were moderate statistical
significant relation between total attitude of studied male, female students, participant
women and their residence P-value 0.010, 0.019. and 0.012 Conclusion: A strong
positive correlation reported between male student attitude and their total self-evaluation,
women’s and female students’ attitude was statistically significance P-value ≤ 0.05.
Recommendations: Further research should be conducted to compare the experiences of
male nurses in different maternity training settings, residence and culture.

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