Men vs. Women

Nurses General Nursing

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Why is it that male nurses tend to gravitate to the ER? I know women are also well represented in the ER, but it seems that whenever you talk to a male nurse (or nurse to be) they want to go to the ER, or flight nursing. Any thoughts??

wild

do tell...lol

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Specializes in ER, Hospice, CCU, PCU.

FU-FU Balls is what we call them.:eek:

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I am a male nurse just starting out...on a telemetry unit...I just graduated and am still taking everything in at work....I was one of 5 males who graduated from a class of 45 students....I would like to say in response to the post about males helping the nursing field...first off I dont believe that we influence the way wages are going...the overall shortage is what is going to influence this...there are many female nurses that I admire at my work and quite frankly some I dont know why they got into nursing...of the male nurses I know some who are great and some who are terrible and full of themselves :eek: ..when it comes to doctors I think that it all comes down to confidence...if you know what you are talking about then they seem to listen ... from what I have seen. I also agree with wildtime...old ladies do love us :D old men respect us...(as far as kids I havent provided any care yet!!) But I believe that the ones who are in nursing because they enjoy it and are rewarded from it you can not define as a Male or Female nurse ...just a good nurse....yet I still have to answer the questions ..." so why didnt you become a doctor?":rolleyes:

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Balls on a rope... Ben-wa beads? icky

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One of my instructors in Nurisng school used to say--"There are 2 kinds of nurses in this world--nurses who like their patients with tubes, and nurses who like their patients without tubes. Both are important--and they are NOT interchangeable!" If you are a tube person (ER.ICU,surgery--) then you will despise the non-tube areas, like postpartum, etc.

By the way--they are called "Ben Wa" balls-used to have afriend whose nickname was "BenWa" Long story--

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A yo-yo? oh no, sorry!

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not that I would know...LOL...but they are called Ben-Wa balls....we were just talking about them the other night at work.:eek:

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I think most men (including me) leave med surgical units because they are tired of being used as an aide to help lift (on bed, to chair,off floor, to bsc...) everyones' patients.

hahaha

I basically left med/surg because I was tired of always working REALLY short staffed. In ED, i still may have 5-6 patients, but it is better than 10-12.

or

maybe us guys arent organized enough to handle large assignments, so we gravitate to areas with smaller pt loads??????????

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it's really simple - men know how to play together. Men don't hold grudges. Men don't worry about most of the petty stuff that females do. i've worked with many fantastic female ER nurses, but give me an all male staff any day!!!!!

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Brandy, you remind me of a friend of mine.. She's a "treat 'em and street 'em" and I'm a touchy-feely. She went into the ER and transferred to the ICU. Me? I went into home care. We're both successful in what we do and are grateful for the skills of the other. I just don't do well when there is constant sensory overload. (A light autism? I've always overloaded pretty easily, but cope better as I get older...) I do really well in home care where I can focus on one person and their myriad issues. I'm glad there are adreneline/tube nurses who can be there when the feces hit the fan. I'm also glad I'm around to trouble shoot with the newly diagnosed diabetic and to teach people how to take care of themselves and stay OUT of the ER!

The man v. women thing... Makes me nuts. I've worked with great nurses and crappy nurses of both sexes. My bias is to prefer men in general, tho, in terms of work partners and friends. In general, a man who doesn't like you personally can still work with you in a professional manner. This is not to say that women can't, just that some find it harder to do. I also appreciate the point of view of the opposite sex. We come at life differently and it's refreshing to get another side of things...

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Where I worked, a level 1 Trauma Center, there were plenty of men & usually they are the best nurses around! Most were mentors for the preceptorship program, & they didn't mind answering a lot of questions from me since I am doing the LPN-RN transition program. I love those awesome male nurses:D they stay out of the gossip too! (Strong, silent types)

Our ER is geared to a 3:1. There are 6 areas, Acute Trauma-MVA's, ortho stuff, 3-4 nurses plus one tech.

Acute Medical-Chest pains, strokes, OD's- 7 beds plus 2 when packed(Hall & by the sink) 3-4 nurses plus 1 tech

Multi treatment-"Pelvic Patch"-gynnie rooms, 1-eye room, 6 beds plus 5 hall beds & 2 isolations rooms again 3-4 nurses plus one tech who also assigned to

Trauma Resus Unit

with 4 Trauma beds & 2 Trauma nurses. Trauma is a seperate department from the main ED but they float & help when there are no Traumas in.

The tech here is responsible to drive the hospital ambulance 1 block to the helipad at the front of the hospital & work the trauma as well, poor helipad design, a new ER with helipad on top is in the works for 2003.

Minor care has 4 curtained rooms with 1 doc, 1 nurse, & 1 tech, sweet!!

The hardest job of all is being an ER Tech,you do it all except pass meds, EKG's , Foleys, I busted my A** for a whole year working as one, but the phlebotomy, IV skills I got & the experience I got is invaluable!

It has definitely helped me in my RN program! I can't wait only 8 more months till I graduate!:cool:

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I work in 2 ER's. One in the suburbs of Boston, and one in Boston.

Burbs- 1 Nurse to 1-3 patients max. These are the anything goes type of patients. Very low key, can be crazy around Halloween.Had attending MD's only, some internal medicine residents would float thru, but you did not have to listen to them. The attendings ruled. We also has protocols in place for you to start. (ie) Chest pain - IV, O2, EKG, Stat portable CXR. Bloods for CK, troponin, coags, chem 12, and so on.

Boston- This is a level 1 trauma center. We just opened a new ER. In the old ER, if you were free you took the next " hit". If you were not then some one else would. Could go from 0 patients to 12 patients at a time. Managing them...If you got a trauma, then that was your responsibility. some of the other nurses would cover for you. while you were in CT on enroute to the OR or SICU. You learned to move fast, eat fast and go to the bathroom, standing, while yelling thru the door to the annoying doctor who just knocked on it to ask for the patients temp. In the new ER, you are assigned to a section of the ER and you take what comes your way. If the room is empty and the triage nurse see's it. then you are up for the next hit. unless you have a critical patient, then the charge nurse will notify the triage RN , that you are closed.

So I have seen the best of both worlds. Hardest part is trying to remeber which hospital has which policies and protocols.Where the supplies are and what passwords go to what machine and door.

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