Where are the men?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Why haven't more men entered the field of nursing over the years? Nursing remains at 94.6% female.

Are you also coastal?

I'm Louie.

I live in Michigan. We have about 6 more weeks of sunshine left better get to me fast afore I go on a bummer.

Must be my perspective huh? I am far from jaded as I sound.

[email protected] or 517 414-7428.

Tsk. tsk, all this talk.

First thing I did is send #3 to school. My life today is a daily blank check. Talk to me.

About becoming a P.A.

Try living in the only house on the main 4 corners of a one light town, with no Doc.

P.A. becomes triage.

Iliel,

I'm glad we are listening to eachother.

Thank you for clearing this up, I'm glad to hear you don't feel nursing is "dumbed down" for us ladies!

Good luck with the PA program! How much longer do you have?

I have to fulfill anywhere from 70-90 prerequisite credits. I'll be at around 60 next fall. By next year it will all be science classes..........finaly. I am so sick of english,hx,and those "other" things.

Originally posted by Peeps Mcarthur

Iliel,

I'm glad we are listening to eachother.

I know, I feel like we've accomplished something here!

Good luck with the PA prog!

Specializes in CCU/CVU/ICU.

As far as I'm concerned, there're plenty of men in nursing already!

On my unit there are 3 of us....so i have to share the ladies with 2 other guys! :kiss

(hope my wife doesn't see this)...

Just teasing......a bit.

Richard

Yes Dinith ... I was about to say - All you male student nurses out there reading this don't get bummed out! The male nurses in our unit are SPOILED rotten! They are the target of the majority of the "cute-sey" flirty stuff, everyone tries to feed them constantly (one of the older nurses that works prn brings them a cake everytime she works) and overall everyone loves them. Excellent nurses - they do their jobs and they aren't interested in the "back biting" and bickering that tends to go on between some of the females. (is it estrogen?) They have become very protective over us as well which is truly a blessing when you are dealing with a combative 6'0" 250 lb+ ETOH abuse case. The "gay" stereotype of male nurses is slowly fading away ... one of our guys actually is gay but we love and spoil him too. :kiss

Specializes in Surgical Heart ICU.

Okay I have worked in a hospital in the past as a security officer. I have been around nurses for awhile,and you have to love them. That goes for females and males. I am 6'3, 315lbs, very broad shoulders, yes I am a amputee but it will never stop me. I have one thing to say to anyone who feels they need to degrade a fellow nurse around me whether the nurse is male or female..... Be careful of what you say, and who you say it too... NURSES are HUMAN BEINGS!!!!! I will flex my muscle to help any nurse. I was a cop before and while I am a amputee to this day... We leave the way we came.. In one piece. That is mentally and physically..... So any future docs or regular folks who forgot what they momma taught them... BE CAREFUL!!!! All nurses aren't 5'2, 175lbs. We are getting bigger,better,and we all aren't ashamed to be called a NURSE... oh yeah who happens to be a male. Sorry to those I may have offended, but you are talking about a profession that I am falling in love with more everyday. So I may get a little mouthy at times,but things will change. We must all be strong and remember what we got into this profession for????? MALE OR FEMALE

Specializes in Critical Care, ER.

Cheerfuldoer- I so agree but why do you bring god into this? I'm sure she approves of men in nursing :)

My husband is an ER/ trauma nurse and let me tell you he gets a harem of pretty cowokers and priviledged status where he is. I mean the crap that he gets away with! I have definitely noticed that:

1. He has the (female) nurse managers at his beckon call 24-7.

2. He has successfully challenged doctors, administrators and even patients in ways which would get me straight up fired y'all.

3. People are always asking him why isn't he a doctor or encouraging him to pursue his studies even though I'm the one with the high grade point average and the excellent evalluations (me, bitter, noooooooooo!)

So in conclusion I don't really understand why men haven't taken up nursing cuz boy they sure do get benefits that we don't.

Perhaps it's cuz:

1. They're still not *as* used to being a caretaker for 12 whole hours in a row

2. There is a slight social stigma associated with men in nursing

3. As previously mentioned, it reverses the traditional power paradigm (man on top, woman on bottom) and that can be very disturbing when they realize that they have to adapt to a feminine culture

4. In fact women nurses are actually ex-CIA agents who are engaged in a conspiracy to eliminate the male species. Everytime a male nurse arrives, we quickly devour him and recycle the remains into cafeteria meatloaf.

I have read over all the comments, and see the same general trend of who done what to whom etc, etc.

My heart felt feeling of why more men are not in nursing, is.......fear.

Men don't like to look into their own insecurities. Men are afraid of raw soft emotions, and have trouble coping with emotional pain, tears, suffering.

I am making broad assumptions here, but that is a major prohibitive for a lot of men to enter the traditional woman's career field. I see men in our ranks that have overcome many of the stereotypes we learned as children. This allows men to go into emotional fields. Docs don't face the same issues as nurses, and that is why men dominate that field. they do not have to "really" interact with other humans. They are self important officers of the medical world.

We male nurses, have at one point or another, had to seize ourselves, and see our emotional weaknesses. That may be an oversimplification, but true nevertheless. Male nurses will always be few, because it takes a special man to do what we do.

Be proud girls, what comes natural to you, we guys have to find in our bucket of snakes & snails & puppy dog tails.

NOW, that I have dispelled all that psyche stuff on you, I do agree with what much of you said. Having been an RN for almost 12 years I have seen all of what has been stated on this thread. The most constant issue I feel when working with my female counter parts is a lack of solidarity. As women, as nurses, as employees, women can not bring themselves together under one cause.

If women could, WE nurses would be the most powerful lobby in the country. We would control health care. Our wages and benefits would double, and our profession would gain respect of all male based career fields. What I speak of is simple unity. Unity to realize that WE ARE NURSES, and baby there ain't nuthin like us when we stand together.

When was the last time your unit stood together on an issue???

I mean stood together despite seniority, or position, or sex.........I'll bet never.........I know never!

If we ever gain the will to stand unified, men will move to this field, and women will gain greater pride in this profession.

" Those that refuse to remember the past, are doomed to repete it"

Specializes in Critical Care, ER.

I think that it would be really appropriate to have special interest groups for males in nursing that cultivate and attend to the specific needs of men (including, say, recruitment of other men). In a previous (misguided) life, I was an engineer (very male dominated profession). Well the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), was very effective at providing a safe place for women engineers to grow and receive support from their peers.

I cannot pretend that I know what it's like to be a male nurse...

I imagine I'm lucky because in the ER I have lots of pretty boys to look at :)

MedicineMan please tell me I'm misunderstanding your point... are you attributing the lack of unity in nursing to the female gender? If so, I suggest you go to a NOW meeting sometime. I assure you the women's rights movement in this country was executed by very unified and well organized women.

Several different posters have made points along the lines of "X is wrong with the nursing profession and nursing is female dominated, therefore a female sensibility is the cause of X" beware of your logic, my friends.

Lexie

OK,

I SURRENDER!

HOW THE HECK DO I FIND THE POSTS SENT TO ME. I CLICK THE BLUELINE BUT NEVER SEE ANYTHING SAYING IT IS IN RESPONSE TO MY ENTRY.

LIKE RIGHT NOW "MEDICINEMAN" HAS SOMETHING FOR ME. WHERE?

REGARDS,

LOUIE

WHOA NOW,

Please reread my post. I stated WE, not she or he. I asked nurses to look to themselves with the question of solidarity. As for any other meaning, it is simply NOT implied.

Do not include me in a he vs she arguement, I will not participate......period.

PS: Louie I did not send you a PM

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