Being a man in the field

timinchrist · Aug 18, 2006

I don't really think about the fact that the class is mostly women. I chose this field and going to class is just a pre-requisite to becoming a nurse. I guess that when I become a nurse, my mentality will change a bit. But more and more men are becoming nurses so that it's really not a big deal.

Dabuggy · Aug 18, 2006

Nope I never felt uncomfortable being in class with all those women. Infact the only time it really hit me that I was outnumbered was in clinicals. We had 9 girls and me. My female instructor loved to try and make me blush but it didn't work.

I was to into study to date. There was just to much material to think about much else. I did have some great female study partners tho.

I came into nursing for a combination of things. First my employer employed employees (WOW) from out of the country and slowly starved us out. I saw this coming and started my pre-req's. I had many CNA friends who told me to get into nursing. Same with an LPN friend. My mom became terminally ill and I moved in with her to help clean, feed etc with my father. Hospice was great and learned a lot from them. They thought I had what it takes to make a great nurse so here I am. Just finished My level I (LPN) and doing 4 pre-req's to start levelII (RN) in Jan.

The only hard part was trying to fulfill my clinical requirements in the OB. It was hard for us guys to watch a delivery. (Understanable) And on my last day of clinicals I did complete that and now I know what to do if I'm at the mall and she goes into labor........That is call 911 (LOL):chair:

Dabuggy

arelius · Aug 18, 2006

It's not at all uncomfortable. Most of us are friends who have known each other in other classes like Anatomy, Physiology, Chem, etc...so going into the nursing classes I already knew many of the women in the class so everything was just fine. Plus there are some guys in the class so I'm not completely outnumbered. The biggest problem is becoming one of the "girls". I still have to remind myself that I need to act like me and not get too assimilated in that manner.

jb2u, ASN, RN · Aug 19, 2006

I feel just fine about it. Besides, my class is not full of women; it is full of Nursing Students :lol2: .

:nurse: :nurse: :nurse: :nurse: :jester: :nurse: :nurse: :nurse: :nurse:

(I'm the cute one in the middle :lol2: !!!!!)

Medwynn · Aug 19, 2006

Hehehe ... i don't feel uncomfortable either. But we're outnumbered 4 to 49.

EricJRN, MSN, RN · Aug 19, 2006

:nurse: :nurse: :nurse: :nurse:
(I'm the cute one in the middle !!!!!)

That's hilarious, JB. :)

P_RN, ADN, RN · Aug 19, 2006

Why is this such a hard concept for these students to grasp? 33 years ago we had men in our classes. They did well, they were short, tall, fat slim gay, straight black, asian, white, and frankly nobody cared. Several were Vietnam vets who had been medics. One went on to become a nursing home admin., a couple went on to be anesthestists. Why does this keep popping up?

__________________

Trauma Columnist · Aug 19, 2006

I do pre-hospital care where I am the ONLY woman on my fire dept and I'm old too. I have never been concerned with it and neither is my husband. We have many male nurses where I've worked. I think that for the most part, it just doesn't matter what sex you are, as long as you have RN (or LPN or CNA) behind your name, come on over and give me a hand! THanks.

ChadleyNC · Aug 19, 2006

it doesn't affect me in any way really. I have worked in hospitals and MD offices for years and have always had female supervisors, and been in largely female departments. OB and Peds were not areas I was interested in and most of my classmates seemed to be amused by my facial expressions at certain times over the summer, but it just doesn't register in the equation for me in class.

Logan · Aug 20, 2006

Hi,

We sure have a lot more males in the program than when I was in school :)

I tend to agree with jb2u on this one - during day 1, I made friends. From then on, it wasn't "myself and this other guy in a room full of girls" - but more along the lines of "myself and my friends in a class full of other folks".

Thanks,

Matthew

ICURNGUY · Aug 20, 2006

It doesn't bother me. In fact I like the odds b/c I am single. Just kidding. There is not much time to realize that I have 90 women and 3 men in my class. I wanted to be a doctor when I was younger. When I found out how much medical school would take from my lifespan I decided that the better "hands-on" treatment was nursing. I worked in a FD for years and loved riding ambulance and helping people.