Male Nurses Don't Get Respect?

Student Lounge College Life
1

<p>I'm applying for a very selective nursing program, and this decision of mine was met with some very negative and ignorant comments from my family. One relative suggested that I become a stewardess instead (I'm a guy). My father says that I'll be wasting my brains removing bed pans, and that he will continue telling his friends that I'm pre-med. My aunt said that female patients won't feel comfortable with me because I'm male, and some male patients might ask for someone else thinking that I must be gay. "If you become a physician assistant or a real doctor," said she, "you won't face discrimination."</p>

<p>It's obvious what the counterarguments here are. But if so many people have these perceptions of (male) nurses, would it really prove to be problematic for me?</p>

<p>I selected this profession because I want to help people, I like the flexible hours and the ability to relocate and switch fields, the constant learning, and the preparedness it would provide me with if I were to decide on med school later on... But these and other comments have been weighing down on me lately.</p>

<p>Any thoughts?</p>

2

<p>Your parents are jerks. You’ll always be able to find work as a nurse. It’s one of the jobs most in demand. You’ll be surrounded by women all day. It could be a lot worse.</p>

3

<p>Generational ignorance about nursing. Your family’s homophobic comments reflect that they are conflicted with your choice of a career that is predominately female. You may meet some resistance but if you are professional and respectful and with the guidance of your nursing clinical advisor you will get the job done. If your nursing program is well respected and at a research and teaching hospital you are not the first nor will you be the last male nursing student. Best of luck.</p>

4

<p>Wow, no offense, but some of your relatives sound like real jerks. Are any of them in medicine? My guess is that the people you’ll be helping won’t give a crap if you’re a man, if only because the majority of them will be in pain or unconscious. </p>

<p>Anyway, what do your relatives do that they can put down your profession so easily? Do what you want to do, I see no reason for you to feel bad about wanting to go into a career like nursing.</p>

<p>And I would introduce your dad to friends as a successful lawyer. And if he doesn’t get what you’re doing and corrects you, be like “Funny joke, dad. He’s also a comedian.”</p>

5

<p>My brother became a nurse at age 50! Not so much for the “helping” aspect but for many of the other reasons you have mentioned. The worse discrimination he faced was from some of the older female professors who were convinced that he and the other males in his class just didn’t belong. </p>

<p>After 10 years, nursing is providing him with the economic stability he wanted, the chance for some real excitement (Emergency Room in LA on a Saturday night can be a little like a war zone), travel opportunities he couldn’t afford otherwise, extended days off to do other things he is interested in, etc. </p>

<p>He does contract nursing because that allows him the most flexibility. He usually goes somewhere near skiing in the winter (not the ski towns themselves but within a two hour drive), big town emergency rooms when he is craving excitement, etc. When he got notice his daughter would be shipping to Iraq, he packed up and moved to her town for four months before she shipped out. </p>

<p>Given his past business experience, he has been asked to consider administrative positions in hospitals but he would miss the flexibility and travel. He counts several Drs among his close friends. </p>

<p>He is hardly what I would call a “girly man”. He flew as a gunner on helicopters in Vietnam, built his own helicopter in his garage, is a licensed pilot, loves roller coasters, scuba diving and sky diving, rides a Harley, is great on horseback, is a licensed boat captain and has taken many Drs and Lawyers yachts to and from various places including Cuba (we always worry when hurricanes approach the gulf area because we know he will get some calls to use this skill), etc etc. The truth is, he is an adventure seeker who needs the adrenaline rush. Contract nursing gave him the opportunity to pursue many of his passions and still save for retirement, put food on the table and pay for that Harley. While he does have to compete with drs for dates, he hasn’t found the odds too bad. </p>

<p>He does a lot of emergency room nursing and that is what he likes the best. The interesting thing is, he is most in demand as an NICU nurse! Apparently, he has the steady hand and hand to eye coordination of a surgeon and is outstanding at hitting those tiny veins and a soothing voice that those babies respond too. And, he rarely empties bedpans! Generally, both female and male patients are no more reluctant to let him help them than they would be for a male doctor to check them. For the few that are, he just trades patients with a female nurse. Things have worked so well for him that his middle daughter returned to school and just graduated with a nursing degree in May.</p>

<p>If this is just a fallback position for you, I would say maybe rethink your choice. But if this is something you really want, go for it! In this unstable economy, I think you will find more males thinking about careers in the medical field that have been more traditionally female and as they do, perceptions will continue to change.</p>

6

<p>Don’t judge everyone by your family, which seems uninformed and homophobic.</p>

<p>Males tend to be some of the best nurses in the field because men who go into the field really want to be nurses. I know some male nurses, have a lot of respect for them, and would be happy to have them treat me.</p>

<p>One of my male friends – a recent college grad – has decided to go to nursing school, and I am thrilled for him and the field. He’s a bright, compassionate young man.</p>

<p>Nursing also is a rare profession in which it’s easy to find well paying employment. Your parents should be cheering you on.</p>

7

<p>Wow, this topic has caught me completely by surprise. A male friend of my daughter, who has just graduated high school, is going into nursing. I have run into him around town a few times and talked with him about his plans. I thought this was a tremendously smart decision for him to make. Male nurses are scarce and I know from recent surgeries that my father and husband each had, having a male nurse accessible to them was great. Just like, as a female, there are times I would rather a female doctor or nurse to deal with my problems, the same goes for male patients. I wish you well and think you are making an excellent choice.</p>

8

<p>I’m also going into nursing (although I’m a girl), but congrats!</p>

<p>If you’re serious about nursing which it sounds like you are, then go for it and forget everything your family has said to you. Nurses are in demand. Male nurses are in even more demand because there are way less of them.</p>

<p>And you know what? If you become a NP (nurse practitioner), you’ll be doing the same job as a PA (physician’s assistant). </p>

<p>Also some food for thought:</p>

<p>As I said before, I’m a girl, but I still get “Why a nurse? Why don’t you be a doctor?” The answer is, they’re different jobs and different approaches to the care of patients, and nursing is more focused on the patients than medicine. I want that. That’s also why I don’t want to be a PA and would rather be a NP. Different teaching/care modules.</p>

9

<p>Male nurses are rare, but think of it this way: All your classes will be with cute girls. :)</p>

<p>Regardless, don’t pay attention to ignorant comments. If you really want to do nursing, go for it. Here at Penn, we’ve got a Nursing school and I know a few male nurses myself, and they’re all very awesome, bright people who have very promising job prospects.</p>

<p>I mean there’s something to be said for doing what you love and having a lot of flexibility and high payoff. You’ll be the one smiling in the end, so don’t listen to naysayers and stick to your guns.</p>

10

<p>Your family sounds like a bunch of morons. There is nothing wrong with male nurses. You’re not going to be some “second class citizen.”</p>

11

<p>I’m guessing your idiotic family isn’t in healthcare - we have a shortage of nurses in this country, and only 6% of American RNs are male. If 94% of any other profession was male, everyone would say how sexist it is. We should be encouraging anyone who wants to be a nurse to become a nurse, especially male nurses. Don’t worry, a lot of this is the older generation bias - in our grandparents/parents generation, nursing was seen as a feminine job, like teaching, but most of our generation doesn’t have this bias. They’d probably say the same if you became an elementary teacher or whatever.</p>

<p>And don’t they realize physicians, physician assistant’s, and nurses are 3 completely different jobs? A nurse’s job is immediate patientcare, while doctor’s don’t attend to patients in that way, they deal with the medicine. Nurses are naturally drawn to patientcare rather than practicing medicine or doing research - it’s a matter of preference. Enough with this 1950’s idea that nurses are a bunch of girls who apply band-aids and such. Also, there’s many different levels of nursing, you can get a Master’s or even PhD in that field, it’s pretty difficult.</p>

12

<p>Does your family know that the median salary for a Nurse Anesthetist is nearly $150,000/yr?</p>

13

<p>Male nurses, like male teachers, are often my favorite. At least in my traditional town, male nurses and male teachers are more likely (but not necessarily!) in it because they like it, not because it was their only option or because of the pay/summers off (for teachers).</p>

14

<p>Your family sounds very sexist to me. It’s just like saying that nurses, teachers, secretaries, etc. can only be women. Being a Nurse is a huge commitment and in very much need in hospitals. The help they provide is outstanding. It doesn’t matter if a nurse is a man or a woman its their ability that they should be judged upon.</p>

15

<p>Nursing is the only degree where you can be surrounded by some of the best looking girls on campus and still get out of school with a job that pays well (hell, get out of school with a job period). It’s probably a better choice than a lot of other majors out there.</p>

16

<p>I grew up in a medical-environment (pretend that makes sense) because my mother is physician and when I was little, she used to drag me to work with her during the summer. I recall there being hoards of male RNs and LPNs(at least where she worked). Even when I occasionally visit the clinic now, there are a good deal of male nurses. </p>

<p>I think a lot of people have that idea of the 50s female nurse who wore the little hat and cape, still.</p>

17

<p>idk but ima be a nurse and im a guy…good money…good job…around hot chicks…what u missing out on</p>

18

<p>yeah your family is a bunch of jerks (hate to break it to you)</p>

<p>do what you want, and I hope you do so well that you have your own freaking hospital and have it staffed by some of the HOTTEST ladies around.</p>

<p>Its EPIC WIN: Hot & smart girls (eh? :slight_smile: )</p>

19

<p>Thanks for calling my relatives morons. You must really live in a sheltered world if their opinions surprise you. They all expressed sentiments that I encountered on nursing message boards, so it’s nothing out of the ordinary.</p>

<p>And guys, what is it with the “hot girls in nursing” stereotypes? :rolleyes:</p>

<p>They don’t even wear those caps and skirts and heels anymore. Heck, they don’t even wear white for the most part. So much for those fantasies. Now doctors, on the other hand…</p>

<p>Besides that, thanks everyone for your comments.</p>

20

<p>^ No one said they were surprised, just that they think your family’s opinion on male nurses is stupid, and yeah, you kind of made them sound like ignorant jerks. I think we’ve all heard of people making jokes about male nurses before, it’s not shocking, but it’s kind of dumb.</p>

<p>like if I told my parents i wanted to be a nurse, they’d be cool with it, if my brother came home and said he was switching into a nursing program, I think my dad would discourage him; like your parents, mine are kind of ignorant about nursing in general. The fact is, much of the American public still has the “hot girl in caps, skirts and heels” stereotype in their heads, when in reality it’s mostly overworked, intelligent people (generally women) in scrubs.</p>