Female Patients’ Experiences of Barriers to Communication with Male Nurses: A Qualitative Study

Male nurses face various challenges in caring for female patients, such as the patients’ refusal of nursing care and sexual accusations. Communication, as a prominent element in providing high-quality health care services, can lead to or inhibit patient satisfaction and health. Professional nurse-patient communication is so important that some nursing theorists have based their theories on this type of communication and consider it an art in the nursing profession. Accordingly, this study aimed to investigate female patients’ experiences of barriers to effective communication with opposite-gender nurses.
The present qualitative study was conducted using conventional content analysis. Purposive sampling was used to select 15 female patients. These patients were hospitalized in different wards and received care from an opposite-gender nurse. Interviewing was the main method of data collection. Graneheim and Lundman’s method was used to perform content analysis. The general stages of data interpretation include initial encoding and the formation of subthemes and themes based on the similarities and differences.
The main theme extracted following data analysis was ignorance of the patient in communication. This theme comprised of three subthemes, including negligence in maintaining patient privacy, one-way communication, and biased behavior.
Based on the findings, the experience of female patients receiving care from male nurses was accompanied by feelings of annoyance. Male nurses are suggested to respect patient privacy, obtain permission before doing private procedures, and provide care for female patients without prejudice and abuse.