Nursing care of a patient experiencing male reproductive disorders, as well as sexually transmitted infections, includes general nursing care interventions such:

Multidimensional patient care needs

• Monitoring vital signs.
• System focused assessment.
• Monitoring laboratory/other diagnostic study results and reporting abnormalities and providing prescribed treatment.
• Monitoring intake and output.
• Assessing for signs and symptoms of complications and adverse effects of treatment.
• Administration of prescribed medication, including chemotherapy.
• Specialized care must be taken when administering chemotherapy; chemotherapy precautions must be implemented to protect the patient, family, and staff. Specialized handling of chemotherapy agents is included in these precautions.
• Multidimensional patient care needs can be met by conducting the appropriate psychosocial, nutritional, spiritual, and cultural assessment. Based on the assessment findings, patient care can be tailored to meet the patient’s needs. Male reproductive disorders and sexually transmitted infections can result in emotional stress as well as anxiety. Early identification of these stressors will help to identify coping strategies for the patient and family.
  

  knowledge deficits

  Patient and family education play a vital role in the care of a patient. Identification of knowledge deficits and providing education on the disease process and treatment options will enable the patient and family to deal with the diagnosis and decide on an appropriate plan that meets their needs.

  Some male reproductive disorders may require surgical interventions; nursing care includes preparing the patient for the surgical procedure as well as post-operative monitoring. Post-operative monitoring to reduce the incidence of complications includes encouraging coughing and deep breathing to prevent respiratory complications. Interventions such as early ambulation and venous thromboembolism (pharmacological or mechanical) prophylaxis can assist in the prevention of deep venous thrombosis. Pain assessment and management must be performed to ensure the pain is controlled to promote early ambulation, and coughing and deep breathing to prevent post-operative complications.

  Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

  Nursing care of a patient diagnosed with benign prostatic hyperplasia includes conducting a focused assessment regarding urinary elimination, providing privacy and emotional support to the patient, preparing the patient for nonsurgical procedures, and performing post-procedure monitoring. Care for patients who require surgical intervention will include:

• Monitor urinary output to assure maintenance of fluid balance.
• Perform continuous bladder irrigation to maintain patency of the catheter.
• Educate the patient regarding the feeling of urgency related to urinary catheter placement is a normal feeling.
• Monitor ;
• pain and provide both non-pharmacological and pharmacologic interventions as prescribed.
•  for bleeding.
• patient for bladder spasms.
•  the urinary catheter for possible obstruction, follow appropriate orders if an obstruction is suspected.
• Educate the patient regarding the signs and symptoms of infection.
• Monitor for skin breakdown.
• Keep the area clean and dry.
• Prostate Cancer
  

  prostate cancer

  Nursing care of the patient with prostate cancer is based on the treatment plan for the patient. Men diagnosed with prostate cancer are fearful and anxious regarding responsibilities and the impact of the disease process on their lives as well as sexual function. Early identification of these stressors will assist in finding the appropriate resources for the patient to cope. Surgical management of prostate cancer is the most common treatment. Nursing care is dependent on the type of surgical procedure the patient will undergo. General post-operative interventions include:

• Maintaining hydration to maintain adequate urine output.
• Wound care to assess for potential infection.
• Assessing and managing pain to assure the patient has adequate pain control.
• Monitor indwelling catheter.
• Provide patient education for post-discharge catheter care.
• Educate the patient on post-op complication of erectile dysfunction to include possible pharmacologic treatment such as phosphodiesterase – 5 (PDE-5) inhibitors as well as Kegel perineal exercises.
• Testicular Cancer
  

  testicular cancer

  The care of the patient diagnosed with testicular cancer includes supporting the patient psychosocially. Men diagnosed at a young age often are faced with sexual dysfunction, which can result in depression. Identification of support systems for the patient is important. Other nursing care interventions are based on the treatment plan. The following nursing interventions pertain to care of the patient with testicular cancer:

• Educate the patient on the option of banking his sperm.
• Assess the surgical site for bleeding, redness, and swelling.
• Monitor indwelling urinary catheter.
• Assess pain level and provide non-pharmacologic and pharmacologic pain management options.
• Provide education to the patient and family on catheter care.
• Erectile Dysfunction

  Erectile dysfunction is a common male reproductive disorder that can be related to another disease process or some other type of factor. Nursing care of these patient includes patient education on treatment options, such as medications and the use of a vacuum-assisted device.

  Sexually Transmitted Infections

  Genital Herpes

  Nursing care of the patient diagnosed with genital herpes is based on symptoms and stage of the disease process. Disease-specific nursing interventions include:

• Administer oral analgesics to improve comfort.
• Apply local anesthetic sprays or ointments as prescribed to improve patient comfort.
• Apply ice packs or warm compresses to the patient’s lesions.
• Administer sitz baths three or four times a day.
• Urge an increase in fluid intake to replace fluid lost through open lesions.

• Encourage frequent urination.

• Pour water over the patient’s genitalia while voiding or encourage voiding while the patient is sitting in a tub of water or standing in a shower.
• Catheterize the patient as necessary.
• Encourage genital hygiene, and encourage keeping the skin clean and dry.
• Wash hands thoroughly after contact with lesions and launder towels that have had direct contact with lesions.
• Wear gloves when applying ointments or making any direct contact with lesions.
• Advise the patient to avoid sexual activity when lesions are present.
• Advise the patient to use latex or polyurethane condoms during all sexual exposures.
• Instruct the patient in use, side effects, and risks versus benefits of antiviral agents.
• Advise the patient to discuss the diagnosis of genital herpes with current and new partners.
• Syphilis

Work Civility

After completing the Clark Healthy Workplace Inventory, my current workplace received a score of 72, which ranked as a mildly healthy workplace , which I agree with.  Although this organization truly wants to be its best for its employees and patients, there are too many issues that caused it to receive a lower score.  This organization’s nursing staff consists of a staggering 80-90% of travel RN´s.  I find this to be a huge issue because it leads to the questions; ¨How come your core staff doesn’t want to work here?¨ Also,  ¨What is the reason that other nurses are staffing this hospital, and not the local nurses you already have?¨  After speaking to the few core staff at this hospital many causes were brought to my attention.

lack of trust in the organization and  lack of appreciation

These causes included nurse burnout, inadequate leadership, lack of trust in the organization and  lack of appreciation.  I noticed the Clark Healthy Workplace Inventory had many questions regarding employee health and satisfaction.  Unfortunately these are the areas this company scored the worst, bringing down their overall score.  This is important to note because several studies conducted have proven that job attitude directly correlates to patient health and satisfaction (Chang et al., 2020).  In addition, the nurses who had higher job satisfaction, were more likely to have a higher job performance (Chang et al., 2020).

Another reason I found this workplace to be mildly civil is because of the lack of stability.  There are many nurses, RT´s PT´s that come in to work for a travel contract. And leave after a few short months.  This doesn’t allow a familiarity or a relationship to be built between the staff nor the patients.  Many people I work with have a mindset of  ¨I´m going to be here for a short while, let me do what I need and leave¨.  There is very little loyalty to the company, there are no trustworthy relationships, and there is frequent change.  All this leads to a decreased work satisfaction.  It is also important that patients be able to create a trusting relationship with their care providers, as it leads to reassurance and a sense of security (Leslie & Lonneman, 2016).

Experience with Incivility in the Workplace

A moment when I experienced incivility in my workplace, was a time before becoming a travel nurse.  It was right at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.  I worked at a very small community hospital; and like the rest of the country this disease was so new to us and we were unsure of how to tackle the issue.  The issue of incivility came when nurses felt frustrated with management and executives.  Nurses at neighboring hospitals were receiving hazard. And incentive pay to care for COVID patients, however the nurses at our facility were not.

It was then discovered that many more hospitals in the area were increasing the pay of those caring for these patients,while ours stayed the same.  The issue was not about money necessarily.  It was the fact that nurses felt that they were literally putting their lives at risk taking care of these sicker patients with no recognition from their leaders, while other hospitals were at least trying to acknowledge the work of their nurses.  After some time enough nurses became frustrated that the issue was brought up to multiple managers, and in a matter of weeks, nurses working with COVID patients started receiving hazard pay.

Summary

After completing the workplace inventory, it became clear that areas that deal with nurse´s beliefs. And attitudes towards a workplace have a significant impact on how an organization runs.  I have also noticed that at times, when problems arise. Many nurses tend to complain about the issue amongst themselves before presenting it to leaders.  It’s important that problems and issues on the units get verbalized to the appropriate personnel so that effective change can take place.  Keeping quiet about an issue can decrease nursing satisfaction. Which can also decrease  patient satisfaction and ultimately patient care (Clark, 2015)

APA Scholarly Paper on the American Nurses Association

*APA references must be PEER REVIEWED ARTICLES within 5 years*