Male Nurses

Nurses General Nursing

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So my "friends" keep telling me that becoming a mail nurse is gay.

and the finance wise i wont be good later in life.

Just wanted to know how common are male nurse? are they look at differently from patients? I'm i less likely to get hired for being male?

Specializes in ICU-my whole life!!.
Just to kind of put things into perspective .....

I'm a male RN with my BSN

I work on an Adult Intermediate (Stepdown) unit w/ trach-vents, vascular, and traumas in a level 1 trauma center

I make more money than many or most of my friends in other fields, have no problems paying my bills at this time, am insured by all facets, and drive a brand new (and nice) car.

I have no current fear of losing my job like every other person I speak with

I have not yet seen a decline in the patient #'s

I don't get treated differently from patients EXCEPT for the EXTREME case of people not wishing to have a male nurse in when they use the restroom.

You'll learn this in school, but you're there to help. You're there to make them better. That being said, the patients know this (for the most part) and respect it. I actually receive a bit more respect from some of my patients BECAUSE I'm a male.

There's a population of gay males in the nursing field, but quite honestly what job DOESN'T have this subset? The only field that you'll not have gay males / females is in the armed forces, and that will probably be changing soon. This also doesn't STOP them from joining, they just can't act on it.

In short, tell your friends to shut the h**l up. You'll see stuff that would absolutely make their heads spin (not kidding). Not everybody can be a nurse and deal with the smells and sites let alone the mental images of what it is to be a nurse. If you honestly want to do this, man up, join a program, and never look back. You'll be happy you did!

I second what this one said!

As soon as your so called friends have a cold or pain somewhere, they will come asking you....just wait and see...

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Don't listen to your friends! Maybe they are jealous because you may end up making more money than them. We have some men in our Nursing classes that will make great nurses. The patients love them! Stay on track and stick with your goals!

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Specializes in Neuro Critical Care.

Thanks for saying that. I was really frustrated reading the message, given his grammar, but I too did not want to make that an issue. He really does need to look at that, people won;t take him seriously if he cannot spell.

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Specializes in Wilderness Medicine, ICU, Adult Ed..
I searched my personal "Quotes" lists and found one I had saved from is5512 (on this site!):

'
...I decided to fight back, and chase this thing out of me. And then I thought of the next person who would be in that hospital bed, and what they'd be going through.

'
I once read that fighting for the defenseless was the highest calling of a man. A Nurse fights on behalf of a patient who can't. When the patient is able, the Nurse teaches them how to fight back. I'm not going to get into class warfare about Doctors and Nurses, but the Nurse is the one who stands guard during the night shift and tells the enemy, "Not on MY watch, you don't."

'
I'm going to be a Nurse because that's what a man does.
'

I thought that was so perfect and something for us (men), that I am tempted to commit it to memory! :yeah:

And again, as another poster...posted: who really cares what others think? Depending on your concentration, duties, opportunities (even a traffic mishap you may witness), you will make a difference in peoples' lives -- perhaps even save them!

This reminds me of a vivid dream I had early in my nursing education:

I was having lunch with a small group of friends with whom I had worked years prior. Most of us had moved on to other things.

Someone posed the question: "So...what interesting thing have you all done today?"

One was wearing fashionably-torn jean, a $120 Tommy Bahama shirt and Birkenstocks. As the last one still in the computer software industry, he spoke up first: "I completed a revolutionary animation method that will put my company on the 'map'!"

The next was a hardware engineer. He described an improvement to PC design that would net tremendous performance increases for minimal cost; this would open up amazing technological potential for the masses.

Another, dressed in a fine hand-tailored suit, "power tie" and shoes worth more than my car piped up: "I closed a deal with a new Asian market that will not only expand my company's reach by 250%, but was the stroke I needed to be made the new Vice President of my division. Oh, and there's a $350k salary that goes with it."

They all looked at me, sitting there in green scrubs, $65 white sneakers and my hospital ID with the dorky picture clipped to some trade show lanyard around my neck. They bugged their eyes out as they leaned toward me, trying to coax a laughable response out of me. I thought about the family that came into the ER that morning, especially the six-year-old girl knocked silly by her lack of a seat belt. I thought about the CPR I had performed. I finally looked up and quietly, but honestly added, "I brought a little girl back from the dead."

Pursue your dream/calling/destiny/whatever you call it.

'When your heart cries out, you must obey!'

--Triumph, "All the Way" (from the "Never Surrender" album)

Best to you,

--David

Wow. Can anyone say it better than JetFuel did in his post? I doubt it. Thank you, JF. I am saving your post so that I can re-read it from time to time. It is beutiful, and true.

To the OP: Decide what really matters in life, then persue a job that nurishes what matters. Do not become a nurse if making a lot of money is your goal. There are much faster, easier ways to make money, and if money is your goal, look at a job in computer engineering or business or something, but not in healthcare. However, you can make a good living as an RN, and have enough money to raise a family and live a comfortable middle-class life.

Being male will not be any obsticle to being hired. Your colleagues will only care how well you care for patients and get allong with co-workers.

For someone your age, I suggest going for a BSN. It won't make you a better nurse (you will determine how good you are, not your diploma) but it will open more opportunities to enter management and advanced practice, should you choose those roads in the future. Why not give yourself the most options possible?

I offer to you the suggestion that I give to everyone who is considering nursing: sign up as a volunteer in a local hospital. Let the nurses know that you are thinking about the profession, and ask them to let you work closely with them so that you can see what the job really entails. They will LOVE you for being eager to help, and you will soon know whether this is the life you want. And make no mistake: it is a life. "Nurse" is not a job one does; it is a person that one becomes, and the process of changing from student to nurse is one that affects who we are for the rest of our life. Don't try to understand that last sentence. You have to learn that for yourself. Just trust me.

One final word: a huge benefit that you might enjoy if you commit yourself to this path is that you will end up with much better friends!

Best wishes, whatever path you choose.

A different David.

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I think male nurses are great! Male doctors and techs don't get harassed at all, so I wonder why male nurses (who generally operate somewhere between these two roles) should be any different. About 10% of my nursing class is male (it has been higher in the last several years -- closer to 20-25%, I believe).

As far as employment goes, I think you may find men sometimes actually have an advantage. I think hospitals sometimes like them because they often find it easier to move patients and may be requested by male patients who are more comfortable being cared for by people of their own gender. You may find it nearly impossible to get a job in, say, labor & delivery, but in almost any other area I think you'd do just fine.

As far as finances go, you don't go into nursing to get rich, but it doesn't sound like that's your goal anyway. Most nurses I know do fine paying their mortgages, car payments, children's expenses, etc., which is more than a lot of people can say these days. Nursing pays respectably and can afford many nurses a comfortable, if not lavish, lifestyle.

So I say, if nursing is what you want to do, go for it! Plenty of men are entering the profession, you shouldn't have an especially hard time getting hired (I say ESPECIALLY hard time because nearly everyone is finding nursing jobs few and far between these days, but I'm sure this will pass in time). Good luck!

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Specializes in psychiatric, UR analyst, fraud, DME,MedB.
So my "friends" keep telling me that becoming a mail nurse is gay.

and the finance wise i wont be good later in life.

Just wanted to know how common are male nurse? are they look at differently from patients? I'm i less likely to get hired for being male?

;)On the contrary...we need male nurses for many different reasons; You are much needed in a lock up psych unit since we need your strenght, some male patients feel more comfortable having their "intimate" procedrues done by the same gender, and it is good to dilute this profession with men, considering the women still fight a lot w/ each other ( we are far from having a sisterhood in this profession--- I do not know why ? Do we have to be so " over competetive " to each other? ) Eating theri young is not far from the truth, and we know it.......so the men will be a good mix, since they are more practical and less emotional ( w/o the female hormone) . Being a nurse does not make you gay---the ones that think you are ,have a very limited function of their brain and insights. Do not listen and stay away from these people. Welcome to the nursing profession. You are much valued!! :specs:

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Specializes in Neuroscience/Neuro-surgery/Med-Surgical/.

There are 'gay men' in every field of work.....seriously, who cares? Sexual gender has nothing to do with how well someone does their job.

I love the fact that more men are entering the field, and are some of my favorite co-workers!!!

Usually more fun and cause less drama.....and this is coming from a female RN!

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I got my degree in nursing in 1978 from a large public university. The males were VERY discriminated against in school at that time. We were not allowed to spend any time on the L&D area, and since all of us planned to become Nurse Anesthetists, the instructors told us we were taking up valuable space that "real nurses" should be in. For the most part, those days are well in the past.

I do not know what RN salaries are, but I can say that Nurse Anesthetists make from 120-250,000 dollars per year, which is more than many primary care physicians make.

As for jobs, most of the male RN's I know are in the ER and critical care areas. Many got there because it is a requirement for admission to Anesthesia school, but since only about 10% actually get in, they tend to stay in those areas.

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first Consider the source... What do your friends do? if they are well educated and have nice paying jobs then, you probably shoudl pay attention. If not then your on the right track. Nursing is not gay if your a Male Nurse. and a fact is that some patients prefer a male nurse when a male nurse is available. anyway that's all.

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Specializes in ER paramedic.

I am a Paramedic, a Volunteer Firefighter, a nursing student, and I am male. I am attending a communinty college in the Associate of Science in Nursing degree program with two semesters left. There are 5 males in my class of 60 nursng students and as far as I know none of them are "gay" nor would I care if they were. The only person that looks down on me is the "old school nurse" that is the Chair of our program and I think that has more to do with my being a Paramedic. I have had no problems in any of my clinicals, except for post-partum in OB, nor with any of my class mates or other instructors. I would encourage any man who is seriously interested in nursing to investigate all of the programs that are available in their area or where ever they are interested in going. Also I am 49 years old. :cheers:

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Sorry if my grammar throws some of you off, when i type especially on my desktop i make a bunch of errors =/. Yea i am not that bad just little simple errors i actually got a 10/12 on the writing section on my SATs and take honors English.

Anyway thanks for all the replies. I am not a troll but this is really great. I plan on becoming a CRNA one day, so hopefully the stereotypes won't follow. =/

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Let me tell you a little about myself. I became a (male) nurse (LVN) in California in 1964 at the age of 18. When I started working in a large hospital I wasn't paid much and was paid less than "orderlies". Also, not being an RN, I was not allowed to give medications - LVN's couldn't even go behind the nurse's desk. Then I went to work at a large convalescent hospital (nursing home) where I was quicly promoted to charge nurse. Upon receiving my draft notice I joined the Army as a Practical Nurse ($89.00 a month). Being an Army nurse was the most fulfilling job I ever had and so I stayed and retired after 21 years. I met and married my wife (who was also in the Army), and had our first son while stationed in Hawaii. Oh, and the military is the same as the civilian world - approximately 10 to 15 percent of the military are gay, or bisexual like me. Upon retiring from the U.S. Army I quickly obtained my RN thru a community college while working part-time. Throughout the years I obtained my BSN, then MSN and just recently obtained a Ph.D. What do I like doing best? Bedside nursing.

Straight-Gay-Lesbian-Bisexual-Transgendered and want to be a nurse? GO FOR IT! I don't know of any other job where your customers (patient's) wil love you as much as they love their nurse.

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