Man-hater in my clinical

bluesky, BSN, RN · Nov 11, 2005

You know I have been on the observing end of a whole lot of nurse on nurse bashing in the year and a half that I've been a nurse. I have to say that in my experience at least, male nurses have been subjected to the eating of the young experience with the same frequency and the same reasons as female nurses. Never once have I heard any of the biyatchs say "so and so sucks because he's a man". In fact, my experience in ER and SICU is that the male nurses tend to get the benefit of the doubt over a female nurse in a grievance situation and they are disproportionately represented in management (way more males promoted into management than in the field). Even the OP didn't really show how this situation is gender-related as opposed to personal. I will tell you that in my experience I have worked with many male nurses. My husband is a male nurse and many of my closest friends on the unit are male nurses. There is one however on my old unit who was a major azz-kisser but a super sloppy nurse and most of us disliked him not because he was male, but because of his practice. It had absolutely nothing to do with his gender. And BTW,the other male nurses on the unit had major reservations about his practice as well. Yet he was manager's darling, flirting away and getting all the perks to go with it. Sorry I am not going to hold my criticism because he happens to be male. It's not because he is a male, it's because of his practice. Any female woould get the same criticism_ and they do!

I just think that sometimes you guys attribute some of the innate nurse on nurse crime in nursing as gender oriented when it isn't. In order to prove that you are being targeted because of your gender you have to do more than say "so and so treated me like crap and she's a female and I'm a male".

When I worked as an engineer, I actually had a few (mind you) men tell me explicitly that women just didn't belong in engineering, after giving me a comment like "good work, for a girl". Now granted this only happened once. Should I make the inference that all men in engineering feel that way? Should I think that tech John who is trying to go to engineering school but can't is mean to me (a female 1/2 his age with 1/2 his knowledge) because I have the degree without his experience.... because I am a female? NO! It's because I'm less experienced and have an opportunity he doesn't and he resents me for it, not my gender per se.

The difference between men entering nursing and women entering male dominated fields historically is that historically, women were not welcome in male dominated fields for decades. Laws had to be created that forced those professions to admit females. Nursing, on the other hand, just didn't appeal to men for centuries because it was very poorly paying and there was no status associated with it.

ortess1971 · Dec 4, 2005

You bring up some valid points, but I have seen in my own experience that some male students do experience intolerance because of their gender. I'm talking about comments such as "he must be gay" or comments that "they are taking over OUR profession." Also, some of us women are very catty-I work with all guys on my shift(I work in an OR) and if you have a professional disagreement with these guys, it doesn't turn into something personal. This has not been my experience with my female coworkers,although not all women are catty. Instuctors, it seems are the biggest offenders, although at my school, anyone who isn't fresh out of high school, white, and female gets treated like crap by some teachers. People who have to work also get poor treatment.

clee1 · Dec 28, 2005

The best piece of advice my Dad (may he rest in peace) ever gave me as a youngster was: "Son, never forget that women are twice as mean as men, and four times as dangerous."

This is something you're going to have to learn to deal with in a female-dominated profession.

Keep in mind that cream rises to the top, and shizzle rolls downhill.

rogramjet · Dec 29, 2005

I have a friend who is a police officer and he said he was glad women aren't allowed in combat. He was at the firing range with a female cop she hit the target 5 times in the kill zone and once in the crotch and chuckled. As he said, women would take all the fun out of combat....

The best piece of advice my Dad (may he rest in peace) ever gave me as a youngster was: "Son, never forget that women are twice as mean as men, and four times as dangerous."
This is something you're going to have to learn to deal with in a female-dominated profession.
Keep in mind that cream rises to the top, and shizzle rolls downhill.

Corvette Guy · Dec 29, 2005

The difference between men entering nursing and women entering male dominated fields historically is that historically, women were not welcome in male dominated fields for decades. Laws had to be created that forced those professions to admit females. Nursing, on the other hand, just didn't appeal to men for centuries because it was very poorly paying and there was no status associated with it. - bluesky

:rolleyes:

IMHO, the nursing profession in the past 10 years has become a more viable career option for men d/t stereotype barriers have been broken.

K98 · Dec 29, 2005

My class started out with 61 students, 5 males. The girls disliked guys so much that they elected me president of the class. I wasn't even running. Knock on wood, I haven't had a bad experience with any student or any nurse that I have encountered during my education (so far). I'm sure that I'll run into someone that I find hard to take at some point, but I've found health care providers a lot more pleasant to deal with than most of the folks I dealt with as a law enforcement officer.

bluesky, BSN, RN · Dec 30, 2005

The difference between men entering nursing and women entering male dominated fields historically is that historically, women were not welcome in male dominated fields for decades. Laws had to be created that forced those professions to admit females. Nursing, on the other hand, just didn't appeal to men for centuries because it was very poorly paying and there was no status associated with it. - bluesky

IMHO, the nursing profession in the past 10 years has become a more viable career option for men d/t stereotype barriers have been broken.

OK, so men didn't enter the profession because they were afraid of being stereotyped? Now that's a real barrier. :rolleyes:

Corvette Guy · Dec 30, 2005

Originally Posted by Corvette Guy
The difference between men entering nursing and women entering male dominated fields historically is that historically, women were not welcome in male dominated fields for decades. Laws had to be created that forced those professions to admit females. Nursing, on the other hand, just didn't appeal to men for centuries because it was very poorly paying and there was no status associated with it. - bluesky

IMHO, the nursing profession in the past 10 years has become a more viable career option for men d/t stereotype barriers have been broken.
_____________
OK, so men didn't enter the profession because they were afraid of being stereotyped? Now that's a real barrier.

First, I'm not into this Thread to do battle with you. Your more than welcome to your opinion, as I mine.

All I'm saying is when I graduated high school [class of '79] the stereotype of a male nurse being gay was much more prevalent than in 1995, and most certainly today. So, back then a young male would be less likely to consider getting into the nursing profession. However, today's society is much more open minded and less likely to categorize nursing as strictly a female profession.

Thunderwolf, MSN, RN · Dec 30, 2005

I second that, Corvette guy (we graduated from HS in the same year).