Discussing Sex and Relationship Issues

[ThuanBac]

Most men are directed to Urology Nurse Practioners to discuss the impact of Prostate Cancer and Prostate Disease. Despite this being an exclusive male health issue there are no male nurse Practioners in the Urology departments of my local hospitals.

Like many men I find talking to strangers, whether or not they are medically qualified, difficult especially about intimate and personal details. This is made even more difficult because I cannot confide in a male clinician and must reveal intimate and exact details of my sex life, my toilet habits, my relationships etc. with a female nurse. When I went to my GP I was able to ask to see a male doctor and nobody questioned my reasons. When I asked to see a male nurse at the urology clinic I was simply told there were no male nurses, none had been recruited, and nobody in the department felt it was necessary. This approach is very different to female health care as women are actively questioned about their gender preferences for clinicians.

My question is where do I find a male nurse practioner to speak about my symptoms?

[Dr Jon Rees]

Hi

Very interesting question. This is also becoming a problem in primary care... I am the only male dr and all the nurses are female in my practice. I agree that whilst in moth situations it doesn't matter whether your dr or nurse is male or female, when discussing very personal issues for some people it can be really important.

What I don't have though is a solution for you... If your urology dept has no male nurses, you are left with accepting the fact that the female nurses you are dealing with are so experienced at discussing these issues that you can freely talk to them, but if that is not possible, you either need to utilise a male GP or as a last resort transfer your urological department to one with male nurses - I guess it depends how important this issue is to you....

[Mr Omer Karim]

Yes, difficult situation.
Paradoxically, some of our male patients find it easier to talk to our female ANP's.
There certainly needs to be a choice, but I cannot see it happening soon in every hospital urology department.

Not sure which part of the country you are in, but there is an excellent male ANP in Manchester - Tom Ladds. He was at the MRI the last time I heard from him. If you are reasonably local to Manchester you might ask to get referred there?

[Philippa Aslet]

Hi There
Discussing sexual health can be very difficult. Sadly Tom Ladds has left urology nurisng. There are some specialist nurses working in the field of prostate cancer in London who are male. One at The Homerton/Whipps cross and one at Kings College Hospital. I know of a few male nurses in Scotlad. Failing that you can always speak to your Urologist or GP. There are some Urologists who specialise in sexual health and erection problems so you could ask for a referral to a local specialist service. Most (but not all) urologists are male.