Touching male patients – The challenge of orthodox Jewish female nursing students: A phenomenological study

Abstract

BackgroundIndividuals from minority populations represent a growing percentage of the nursing workforce. Orthodox Jewish nurses are part of the Israeli nursing workforce, but scarce data and little research is available regarding the influence of nurses'; religious and cultural backgrounds on their interactions with patients. Research regarding touch between the sexes in a professional context refers mainly to male nurses touching female patients. The cultural context of touching patients has also been poorly investigated. ObjectivesUnderstanding orthodox Jewish female nursing student's experience of touching male patients. DesignQualitative study. SettingsFour academic nursing programs in Israel. ParticipantsForty orthodox Jewish female nursing students, academic year 3–4. MethodDescriptive phenomenological approach. Forty in depth semi-structured interviews were undertaken and analyzed according to themes. ResultsEight categories were identified. From these, three main themes emerged: Supervisor-student relationship (bullying/abuse), negative personal feelings (loneliness/helplines, lack of support, fears, cognitive dissonance) and coping strategies (being tested by God, improving one's self character, positive personal reflection). ConclusionThese students presented with unique challenges facing male patients – which clinical instructors were unaware of. They used their cultural background as a source of power. Findings may be of global relevance for other nursing schools and health services where nurses come from religious backgrounds.