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'Not a job for a man': factors in the use of touch by male nursing staff.

UNLABELLED
While the numbers of male nursing staff are growing in both the UK and the USA, there remains a significant imbalance both in terms of the total number and the specialities in which male staff choose to work. Management, education and technology-dominated roles, characterised as 'high-tech, low-touch' specialities attract disproportionately larger numbers of male nursing staff.


AIM
The aim of this narrative literature review was to explore and critically review the factors that influence the perception and use of touch by male nursing staff in contemporary healthcare settings.


METHOD
A comprehensive review of the literature was undertaken using significant online databases focusing on evidence from peer-reviewed journals published in English.


RESULTS
Key influential factors arising from 11 selected studies included male nurses' definitions of touch; fear of touch misinterpretation; coping strategies employed; the assessment of certain groups of patients; gender-derived stressors; the emotional experiences of male staff; and the limited consideration of these issues in the pre-registration nursing curriculum.


CONCLUSION
A range of factors regarding touch impact on the way male nurses use touch when caring for patients. A lack of research-based education in the preparation of male students leads to the development of various protective strategies. There is a need for the particular challenges facing male students and staff to be explicitly addressed within undergraduate and post-qualifying education and training programmes.