i figured i'd write this due to all the questions in these forums by males wondering about male nursing stereotypes, if it's going to be harder being a male nurse, if male nurses get the same employment opportunities and so on.
these are my experiences and those of the guy nurses i know, there's a bunch of generalities, so don't get your (guys and gals) feelings hurt:
1. NURSING SCHOOL
a. some schools give males more ranking pts for admission, just because you're a guy (they want more guys)
b. faculty and administration personally thanked me and the other guys on numerous occassions (in front of the female students) for wanting to be nurses (because employers in the area told them that's what they wanted, more male nurses)
c. you will see some female students really struggle with some of the physical demands (moving patients, etc), not as much of a problem for most guys (we are stronger). one less thing a guy student has to worry about during labs/clinicals
2. EMPLOYMENT
a. as stated above, my experience has been that employers prefer male nurses
why? it's basically all about money to employers
I. males don't get pregnant (less missed work, $$$)
II. males don't generally deal with the children, wifey does (again, less missed work)
III. males in general are stronger, we can do more (aka the human forklift)
IV. relates to the strength thing again, less employee lifting/moving injuries and patient injuries (don't drop a patient)
V. males don't have the goods women do (uti, pap, mammo, etc), so we miss less work due to doc visits
3. STEREOTYPES OF MALE NURSES
too many guys seem to worry about these (mainly the 1st one), who cares
a. gay, if you're gay great, if not get over it if someone thinks you're gay just because you're a nurse
I. most of the "are you gay" stuff i've run into, is either from a gay guy asking me or a women as her subtle way of saying i'm ok in her eyes, either way it's flattering
b. too dumb to be a doc, they're probably right, lol (they clearly don't know many doc's)
c. nursing isn't a calling for a male, it's just a job (probably right again, haha)
d. you're a doc (just because i'm a male taking care of patients doesn't mean i'm a doc, i just play one on tv, lol)
e. womanizer or whatever you wanna call it, being a man (women don't seem to compute this a much as guys do, working with 90% women speaks for itself)
III. males in general are stronger, we can do more (aka the human forklift)
Ding ding ding! We have a winner.
In my previous life (prior to nursing school), I worked in HR for a mental health hospital. The Nurse Manager was always asking me to try to get male nurses. Mostly because they tend to be stronger.
Of course as the HR person responsible for discrimination law compliance, I couldn't overtly announce that we preferred men..... but we did.
So here I am doing my clinicals in ER as an EMT-basic student, shadowing a tech. He takes a 20 minute break and within 60 seconds I get my muscles volunteered to transfer a patient being discharged from wheelchair to car. Now I gotta say that I'm 50, not in firefighter shape by any means and this nurse could kick my butt around the block so I do a double-take and then hop right on it.
I take the position that I'm there to help no matter what form that help takes; that's my story and I'm sticking to it!
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and then hop right on it.
old_dude
29 Posts
Ding ding ding! We have a winner.
In my previous life (prior to nursing school), I worked in HR for a mental health hospital. The Nurse Manager was always asking me to try to get male nurses. Mostly because they tend to be stronger.
Of course as the HR person responsible for discrimination law compliance, I couldn't overtly announce that we preferred men..... but we did.