Gay male nurse stereotype?

[greygooseuria]

So, a question has arisen in my mind since I have been in CNA class waiting for nursing school to start.

There are only 2 guys in my class of 25, and the other guy is married and I'm gay. After doing clinicals in the hospital, I have yet to see another gay male CNA or nurse.

Where does this stereotype come from? I am not seeing it at all.

[MrChicagoRN, RN]

I'm not against a name change; i think we should be called "murses". It's funny (albeit sometimes derogatory, at least how I have heard it used), but that's the best way to change a negative label. Make it your own, then take pride in it.

Why would I call my self a " male purse?"

[MrChicagoRN, RN]

Now I am not the most macho guy, I am androgenous (somewhat female, and male charateristics and mannerisms), and I am homosexual. I am afraid that my personality might be an issue, even though I have a strong desire to work in healthcare. I feel like people will classify me as a wussy, and that I am not compentent like other "straight men" are. It's definitely an issue I am struggling with, but know I can overcome.

On 3 of the 4 inpatient units I've worked on, all in Chicago, there was RN's who were gay. Not a big deal at all, especially in cosmopolitan areas.

Good Luck to you.

[dghon]

I don't understand. Why did it make any difference to her that you are gay? And to provide some background; I'm prior military, advanced degree (that turned out to be absolutely useless), and ended up working retail. I am now in nursing school. The point being, I could care less about the sexual orientation of anyone I worked with. My only prejudice is stupid people. Plus, I can't stand to work with anyone lazy. So, with that in mind, what was her big deal??

[jEstevez]

Out of the 6 guys in our class, only one of them is gay. I never even heard of that stereotype before in nursing.

[justinpark09, MSN, RN]

some people still think a male nurse is automatically gay. that's funny. Most male nurses I've known are straight.

[ONRADAR124]

I don't care

[AZ_LPN_8_26_13]

I really don't care if anyone thinks I'm gay or not. Most experienced nurses have jobs and an income. In this economy that trumps everything

[Nightshifter57]

Its because back in the day only women could be nurses, so naturally when men started joining the profession everyone assumed they were all gay because apparently all gay people like doing "girly" jobs.

[rn/writer, RN]

Actually, the first nurses were men.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

actually, the first nurses were men.

the alexian brothers? and when i started nursing, every male nurse i encountered was either openly gay or a former priest or monk. all but a few of those were gay, or so t hey told me. the ones that weren't were either asexual or pretending to be heterosexual. after hearing a few stories, i believed them.

the gay male nurse stereotype persists because there are still so many of us around who remember when most male nurses were gay. that it is no longer the case means, hopefully, that it will continue to fade away.

[AZ_LPN_8_26_13]

Actually, the first nurses were men.

Women really weren't widely accepted into nursing as we know it now until the era of Florence Nightingale. Before this nurses on the battlefield were men, and nurses in hospitals were monks. Hospitals as we now know them today were actually started in the Middle Ages by monastic orders of military knight/monks such as Knights Templars and Knights Hospitalers.

[cazman]

I have many friends that are nurses, both straight and gay. I myself have worked in healthcare for over 10 years and am a gay man myself. I think there is a larger population of gays and lesbians in healthcare in general, but in nursing itself, I don't tend to see as many gay nurses as I do in other areas of healthcare.