Men in Nursing

[OlderStudent]

So I have been looking at the various career options I have and Nursing is the one that interests me most. I am not interested in becoming a physician due to the amount of time it takes to get there and the amount of hours required. I am married and have 4 children. I want to see them grow up and I am not willing to part from that. PA seemed interesting and I may consider that one although I am guilty of not liking the title of Assistant. Nursing will give me a great level of patient interaction and care while only taking maybe 2 years to complete the program. ( I already have a B.S. in another field ) My concern is how are men perceived in the nursing field? Are men looked down upon? Do men face descrimination from staff and patients? Are men not allowed to work in certain areas such as Labor and Delivery? Thanks for the help in advance.🙂

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[fab4fan]

Men aren't looked down on in nursing. There may be times that certain pts. will not want a male nurse, particularly if it's an intimate procedure on a female like a cath. There are certain cultures that will not allow males to provide care for females. These are situations that are usually remedied easily, for the most part.

L&D remains something of a different situation. It is rare to see males providing nursing care in that environment. I've been an RN for 22y and have never come across a male nurse in any OB department. If you think your heart is set on that area, just be aware it may be difficult. Some of the guys in my nursing class got very little exp. during OB because of this. I'm not saying it's right, but it does happen.

Good luck.

 

[dpmd]

I like male nurses, but I might be biased because my husband is one. I think some narrow minded people may talk ****, and consider male nurses girly or something. Many people are more open minded about it. I trained as a nurse in the army, and about 50% of my class was male. I am sure some of them left the army by now and are in the workplace. It is getting more common, I think, since the money is good the time commitment is less, and it is interesting work.

 

[Febrifuge]

I work in a busy, urban Emergency Department. Our nurses, of either gender, are in my opinion the smartest and best in the hospital. Working where that's the case, it doesn't even occur to me to think it's weird to have male nurses. Intelligence, compassion, and skill are not gender-specific traits. Anyone who claims otherwise is... um, let's just say they're mistaken.

 

[guetzow]

Men aren't looked down on in nursing. There may be times that certain pts. will not want a male nurse, particularly if it's an intimate procedure on a female like a cath. There are certain cultures that will not allow males to provide care for females. These are situations that are usually remedied easily, for the most part.

L&D remains something of a different situation. It is rare to see males providing nursing care in that environment. I've been an RN for 22y and have never come across a male nurse in any OB department. If you think your heart is set on that area, just be aware it may be difficult. Some of the guys in my nursing class got very little exp. during OB because of this. I'm not saying it's right, but it does happen.

Good luck.

Looks like it's settled! OB PA it is.....

 

[psychbender]

Other than the occassional joke about being a murse, I don't think any of the male nurses I know have experienced any additional difficulties for having a pair of testicles. Then again, this could be because I only know ER nurses well (which, as we know, ALL have testicles, regardless of biological sex).

 

[OlderStudent]

Men aren't looked down on in nursing. There may be times that certain pts. will not want a male nurse, particularly if it's an intimate procedure on a female like a cath. There are certain cultures that will not allow males to provide care for females. These are situations that are usually remedied easily, for the most part.

L&D remains something of a different situation. It is rare to see males providing nursing care in that environment. I've been an RN for 22y and have never come across a male nurse in any OB department. If you think your heart is set on that area, just be aware it may be difficult. Some of the guys in my nursing class got very little exp. during OB because of this. I'm not saying it's right, but it does happen.

Good luck.

Yeah I figured OB would be a rarity for a male nurse. My wife and I have 4 children and she spent extensive time in the high risk OB unit and I never once saw a male nurse. ( I know the both of us would have been uncomfortable with a male nurse ) This is fine since I don't have any desire to work that unit. ( I saw enough with the pregnancies ) I was just wondering what departments would be the most uphill battles for men.

 

[tiredfeetED]

I been a RN for 5 years ( and Male) in the Emergency department where there are days when staff is majority guys. To me there never has been a issue of what the gender of the person as long as they are a decent person and excellent RN. It has been a great career so far, and been a great hands on experience that allowed me to get into PA school. As you said earlier that the Assistant part bothered you, so i can imagine your reaction the first time you get called Nurse smith Mr. jones needs a bedpan. 😀
And it is true about the RN's in the ED, women seem to have some big cajones. Don't piss them off!😉

 

[guetzow]

Yeah I figured OB would be a rarity for a male nurse. My wife and I have 4 children and she spent extensive time in the high risk OB unit and I never once saw a male nurse. ( I know the both of us would have been uncomfortable with a male nurse ) This is fine since I don't have any desire to work that unit. ( I saw enough with the pregnancies ) I was just wondering what departments would be the most uphill battles for men.

Battles are for teenagers and college students. Just pick a nice (Guy inhabited) specialty and rake in the $$ !

 

[zenman]

I've never has a real problems in my career of over 33 years. I did know a male nurse that went to nurse midwife school a long time ago with my ex-wife.

 

[uclacrewdude]

dude, whatever happens, dont carry with you the inferiority complex when interacting with MDs that plagues almost all murses.

 

[Quicksilver]

I've been an RN for almost 16yrs, I've went to school with and worked with quite a few good male RN's. Although it's rare, one of the best L&D nurses I've seen is a male who works in a local hospital. Some patients have problems with guys doing certain procedures on them, but for the most part patients and their families are pretty cool with male nurses taking care of them. And I have noticed the guys often have a better rapport with the doctors than us women do sometimes. They get treated more like a peer than a subordinate. Could be too how women conduct themselves from men.I sometimes think female nurses bring condemnation down on themselves and then have a chip on their shoulder for getting treated the way they do...... Not that I haven't seen a few guys who acted like they had their heads up their butts too, and they get treated accordingly. Just my 2 cents......😀

 

[konkan]

I've never has a real problems in my career of over 33 years. I did know a male nurse that went to nurse midwife school a long time ago with my ex-wife.

How would you call him? Midhubby?

 

[zenman]

How would you call him? Midhubby?

I don't remember, but I'd have trouble with "wife" in my title.😀