Is there a need for more male nurses?

Nurses General Nursing

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As a new LPN graduate I constantly here "Congratulations, we need more male nurses." & "As a man most employers will hire you on the spot!"..... But it has been my clinical experience that there was no one specific thing that could have been done better by a man than a woman. In fact I have been refused three times during my maternity rotation and was finally allowed to assess a woman who was post c-section, that happened to be a nursing instructor. (which was a better experience than the other students got but thats beside the point. Anyways, where is this big major need for more men in nursing? any ideas??

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

My my my folks are rude these days. The OP here needs a little lesson on internet/board etiquette, I think. First, if you post a question on open forum you risk get honest opinions, not just those you are looking for or that please you. Taking heads off for this is not a real polite or cool thing to do. I was not being rude, just honest.

ACLU?

whatEVER.

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did you get the answer you were looking for ty?

leslie

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.
sigh.....again.

we need more QUALIFIED nurses, period. Let us leave gender, race,and other characteristics out of this please.

This says it all. This is what I see.

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We need more male nurses so that female nurses can try to marry them instead of the doctors. (just kidding!!!!!!!!!)

But I do know what to OP means. My dad is a nurse, and he hears stuff like that.

I think more nurses who happen to be men are good to have around because it helps to diffuse some of the estrogen. ;)

But then, I've always been more of a guy's girl, so to speak. Grew up with brothers and no sisters, tomboy as a kid, etc... :D

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.
offhand, i cannot think of another profession that exposes people/pts in their most vulnerable states. to this day, i still will only have female mds because of my modesty. i think many people feel this way.

Believe it or not I feel the same way and like male doctors for this reason (str8 ones at that), so if I needed initmate care I would rather have a male do it, just because I'm a modest prude like that. :)

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I can't see why we would need a male nurse in particular. If someone preferred a new nurse that was male, I would assume that they were looking for someone to help with the lifting and disorderly patients.

That isn't a very good reason to want a male co-worker, but I do believe that there are a lot of people who will still try to stick a male with a large portion of that work. It hasn't been long ago that one of the best CNAs we have ever had was run off by the never ending demand for his assistance to other staff and their patients. He could hardly get his own work done for being paged to help with everyone else's patients.

If I can't lift a resident with the help of one other staff person, I wouldn't recommend anyone try. I'll get the Hoyer lift out and it generally does the trick.

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Specializes in ICU, CM, Geriatrics, Management.

Think the presumption behind Ty's question is correct.

IMHO, more qualified guys in the profession will tend to give it greater balance and credibility. Will also engender better and more effective care.

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Interesting. When I worked in law enforcement, my best friend was a female officer who constantly heard how women should not be cops. She was an excellent officer, so I'm not sure what the problem was.

I think in ANY profession diversity is a good thing. You give the public, patients, clients or whatever a better variety of service the more different types of people from different backgrounds that you have. It can only make that field better.

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Specializes in Case Mgmt; Mat/Child, Critical Care.
As a new LPN graduate I constantly here "Congratulations, we need more male nurses." & "As a man most employers will hire you on the spot!"..... But it has been my clinical experience that there was no one specific thing that could have been done better by a man than a woman. In fact I have been refused three times during my maternity rotation and was finally allowed to assess a woman who was post c-section, that happened to be a nursing instructor. (which was a better experience than the other students got but thats beside the point. Anyways, where is this big major need for more men in nursing? any ideas??

No need for defensiveness Redd, you asked a question, got some answers....

Personally, I have never heard that phrase..."we need more male nurses...."; ever, in about 14-15 yrs of working in healthcare.

My response would be..."Why do you say that....?" to those that tell you that. Who are you hearing these comments from anyway? It may make a difference.....

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Its all bunk about the need for more men. All that matters is that you've got the skills.

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Its all bunk about the need for more men. All that matters is that you've got the skills.

scowl.......

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
Its all bunk about the need for more men. All that matters is that you've got the skills.

I totally agree.

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