Macho Men in the ED

[Jerry 75]

I have worked in 5 ER's as an RN on both East and West Coast. And on both sides of the country you always run into a few Macho Men Nurses in the ED. These are the ones with poor impulse control and poor coping skills and they alway's seem to internalize anything that an angry patient says to them. Quite a few that I have worked with were Homophobic also.

In situatons when Patients are aggressive with me I always try and set limits for acceptable behavior and or defuse the situation butttttttttt............. The Macho men always prefer to do a take down. I avoid a Take Down if I can because someone usually gets injured and there is risk to life and limb and liability issues also. But if all else fails I will be in the mix for the Take down.

The Macho men enjoy pushing the buttons of the already agitated pt. a few notches higher till he escalates and attacks. For what? Is it worth it? Why push the guy's buttons? What if he has a knife or a gun or grabs and IV pole and bashes your brains in alittle or waits for a smaller more vulnerable prey to vent his anger on now that you egged him on?

[mykrosphere]

There are WAY more macho-men in the ICU. In fact, we assume every male patient is gay...and when no one is looking we punch them.

:hehe::anpom:

[ArkansasFan]

There are WAY more macho-men in the ICU. In fact, we assume every male patient is gay...and when no one is looking we punch them.

I think I saw a thread entitled something like "Getting Patients to do What You Want." This is the solution for the OP. Punch the patients.

[BigBub1000]

Phobe comes from phobic, doesn't it? And that means "fear".

Fear of homosexuality and homosexuals. I agree that one is not necessarily afraid of these simply if one is heterosexual or is not in favor of same sex marriage or issues like that, which are very important to all of us (straight or gay).

I know it's out of fashion to be conservative or old-style but true tolerance works both ways - or it should, anyway.

I know it is best to try to de-fuse hot situations, but it isn't always possible.

Being a nurse doesn't make all nurses have the same basic personality or guarantee sensitivity, good judgment, and common sense. Even someone who is normally a great nurse can have an off day, too.

[Tonjia]

I must be the exception to the rule here, I have also worked coast to coast and have worked in 5 different ER's and really have not run across any "macho men", that I know of.

Personally, I would rather work with male nurses because they are usually more easy-going than women and I know I can always count on them in case I have a problem patient.

[C-DIFF PHIL RN]

i 2nd that dinith88, icu nurses are way more macho than those little girly er nurses. and if the male patient has better looking waxed eyebrows than cindy crawford we label him gay too, heck we are all a bunch of homofobes in the unit....

DIFF.