Concerns as a male nursing student

Hi all,

I'm a 25 yr old male. I'm married, and I'm in my second yr of pre-reques for nursing-I had to start from remedials. I have worked and been in and out of college since school. I finally decided on nursing, as my wife is a nurse and I have a lot of respect for her and what she does. Plus, I love the idea of being able to work anywhere in the world. I am also fascinated by the scientific side of the schooling.

My only problem is that I'm very shy. Dealing with patients is going to be a big challenege for me. Hell I have a hard enough time in class being surrounded by girls/women. I'm pretty much an introvert. I'm friendly enough, and I do believe I will be an affective nurse. I'm just quiet u know. Most of the classes I've started this semester require group involvement, working in groups etc. and I'm nervous about it but willing to do it. I'm also starting a CNA course in March to help get some patient experience.

I guess I just wanted to know if any other guys out there felt the same at all or had any advice.

Thanks for reading.

Your title is a misnomer. That's not a concern related to being a guy, but a concern about your personality type.

My advice: get through the CNA course and work as a CNA for awhile. If you can handle the atmosphere there, you'll probably be fine.

But as a nurse, you WILL be working around women alot. And I even know women that say they hate working with women. I like it well enough, but I'm pretty even-keeled and can ignore gossip to some extent. I have enough allies that back-stabbing is rarely fatal. And I long ago stopped being embarrassed when women discussed things like bra sizes in my presence. I have actually said something to the effect before, "I didn't know you were a 34D!'

~faith,

Timothy.

I didn't know what to expect in school or on the job. There was only one other guy in my class of 42 students. I am fairly outgoing and was pretty much accepted and treated like "one of the girls". The other guy was not that well liked. I often found myself in the middle of "girl talk" and was perfectly comfortable with it and even participated. I even got a kick out of the male bashing that went on.

On the job I found I was completely accepted and have heard comments like "we need more male nurses here." I was told by the hiring manager she had hoped I could have a calming affect as some the the nurses tended to get all rilled up too easily, so I was told. I used to be an EMT with a BLS unit and an ALS unit so remaining calm and focused when the heat is on was something I learned.

The best advice I can give you is be yourself. Do not try to be somebody you are not.

You will be spending two years, depending on your curriculum choice, with the same group of students. Some will not make it but you will develop good friendships during school and you will all learn to be supportive and encouraging for each other.

I have to mention this too:

During the first week of school our main professor told us that she had seen more than one marriage break up because of the rigors of the curriculim. I admit I thought that won't happen to me. Although I am not married I had a girlfriend of 5 years when I entered the program. We do not live together and are still together but I think that will end soon. I spent most of my time with school work and the neccessary work around the house so she had time to fill on her own. Your wife will need to understand that you will be spending a lot of time involved in your studies, unless you have a photgraphic memory like my sister.

Best of luck to you. It is without a doubt the best career move I have ever made.

Hi all,

I'm a 25 yr old male. I'm married, and I'm in my second yr of pre-reques for nursing-I had to start from remedials. I have worked and been in and out of college since school. I finally decided on nursing, as my wife is a nurse and I have a lot of respect for her and what she does. Plus, I love the idea of being able to work anywhere in the world. I am also fascinated by the scientific side of the schooling.

My only problem is that I'm very shy. Dealing with patients is going to be a big challenege for me. Hell I have a hard enough time in class being surrounded by girls/women. I'm pretty much an introvert. I'm friendly enough, and I do believe I will be an affective nurse. I'm just quiet u know. Most of the classes I've started this semester require group involvement, working in groups etc. and I'm nervous about it but willing to do it. I'm also starting a CNA course in March to help get some patient experience.

I guess I just wanted to know if any other guys out there felt the same at all or had any advice.

Thanks for reading.

I've never had a problem with being shy, so can't really relate to what your saying. Curious, if you have a hard time being around women, then how did you and your wife meet?

Anyway, get over being shy, ASAP! The school group projects should help, and the CNA course is a good idea, too. BTW, have you talked to your wife about your introvert tendencies R/T patient care? She is a nurse, and should be able to provide you with some insight.

Your title is a misnomer. That's not a concern related to being a guy, but a concern about your personality type.

I guess you're right. I just wanted to get some comments from some guys who maybe felt the same way. I might make a post in the nursing student forum and see if some girls maybe had the same feelings. :)

EDIT: Whoops this is my wife's name..lol

I met my wife on the internet. In a chat room on yahoo like 6 yrs ago....lol...Don't get the wrong idea. I'm not agorophobic or anything. I met my wife in a chat room while I was at college. We talked everyday for nearly a year as friends. My friends thought I was crazy talking to someone on a computer. Anyway, we're coming up for our fith aniversary and still loving it. We made it getting one of us through nursing school and all kinds of rough times, so I'm pretty confident we'll be Ok for my turn.

It's not that I can't talk to women. While talking to my wife on the computer (not my wife at the time) I had 3 or 4 relationships with women, and one of my closest friends at the time was a girl. I think for me it's more the being in front of the class. Like having to introduce yourself to the class on the first day. I'm sure I wasn't the only person who was nervous about having to do that. I think the fact that the class was mostly girls made it worse.

I have talked to my wife about it, and she thinks I'll make a good nurse. She said, about the group stuff, that's just something you'll get used to. Like I said I'm up for it as the more experience I have with it the easier it will be.

Thanks for the replies.

IMHO, nothing wrong with how you met your wife, especially how ya'll www chatted for a year. I'd much better prefer internet chat v. the phone. I hate the phone, which is my least desired form of communication.

Yes, now I understand, and suspected such, that your more shy in front of an audience. I can see how that uncomfortable type fear would be compounded for a guy if the audience is mostly female. Thanks for making that more clear. I'd bet you will over come your fear of getting up in front of an audience. Have you had a college level speech course? Lots of tricks can be learned, like imagining a line head level in back of the room while your speaking. This gives the impression your making eye contact with your audience, yet allows you not to get distracted. I've heard of the tactic where you visualize your audience naked, so to relieve your anxiety & be less intimidated. However, I don't suggest such tactic... d/t an audience full of naked female nursing students would definitely be distracting. :rotfl:

Bottom line, as long as your not intimidated with one-on-one contact with patients. Of course, most nursing student are nervous the first semester, but that will go away. I was a Certified Scrub Tech before & during nursing school, plus I was in my late 30's, so I was not nervous during 1st semester clinicals.

My wife is an RN. You will appreciate once you become an RN the bond you & your wife will have both being in the nursing profession. Good luck & keep us posted. We need more nurses, and especially more male nurses. :wink2:

:cheers:

its hard getting up in front of the class to present something, i dont think you ever get used to it i know i never did. but in time and with experience confidence comes.

i'm worried a bit that no one will want to be my lab partner because i'ma guy. and by labs i mean learning the clinical skills etc...

i'm worried a bit that no one will want to be my lab partner because i'ma guy. and by labs i mean learning the clinical skills etc...

Are you kidding me? I never had trouble pairing up with one of my female nursing student peers. Just be sincere about learning, and surely one of your female classmates wil pair up with you for clinical skill practice.

Quite frankly, I don't really think the shyness is going to be a factor in group work. Group work sucks, period.

Unless you are blessed with a semi-decent group, expect to pull all the load. And I hate that happening.

Anywho - that CNA course is about the best way to find out. Enough to get your whistle wet, but not enough to feel like a cold shower

I met my wife on the internet. In a chat room on yahoo like 6 yrs ago....Anyway, we're coming up for our fith aniversary and still loving it.

Don't let anyone give you any crap about it either. I met my wife in a chat room and our tenth anniversary is next month.