The construction of the gendered patient: hospital staff's attitudes to female and male patients

This article presents an analysis of some of the gendered attitudes to male and female patients as expressed by a variety of hospital staff, such as physicians, nurses and nursing aides of both sexes. Through unstructured interviews, we attempted to capture the staff's descriptions of female and male patients. Analysis and interpretation was based on an analytic framework of symbolic interaction where perception of patient as gendered was seen as negotiated through interactions between the health care worker and the patient. All staff, independent of their own gender, describe differences between female and male patients. Despite some differences between professional positions, all describe female patients as more demanding than male. Physicians describe elderly female patients in particular, as being demanding, while nursing staff say younger women are most demanding. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.