You will NEVER believe this guys...discrimination???

[rbs105]

Hi-

I have to get some guy opinions. This guy I know is in his first semester of nursing school. He is in an accelerated BSN program. He is with 6 other women. He expressed his dissatisfaction about the show Nurse Jackie and the stereotype that the male nurse is gay and he is tired of the stereotype of male nurses. Next thing he knew, he was being called in by the safety officer because the instructor was "worried" about him and that he was being "disruptive". REALLY??

So now he had to meet with the safety officer because he may "become" a problem. He pointed out that he was discussing a current event and a show on TV. The officer said that they are worried because they feel this was an expression of his stress and don't want him to "become a problem". Even the girls who are with him in class didn't feel it was a big deal-just a conversation. How is he to safely open his mouth? How does he deal with this instructor now? Does he make a bigger deal out of it? If he discussed Dr. Kevorkian, does that mean they will think he is going to kill his patients?? He puts up w/sexual comments from women, their profanity, etc etc and doesn't say a thing. Now someone is complaining about him due to this??? He brought THAT up to the safety officer and he just laughed and said, women have issues and hold onto alot. WHAT?! So that is okay??? NOW he is really stressed out. He was also very upset because he had to go to this stupid meeting right before his exam and he is all frazzled about that now.

I am a MSN student and have been a nurse for 3 yrs and am well aware of stereotypes of men in nursing. Frankly, I was disgusted too by the interpretation of men in nursing on this show and I am a woman. However, this blows my mind. I am very upset this has happened and really hope this doesn't compromise his ability to pass his classes now that this has happened. He is a very good student.

What does he do? Who does he talk to? How does he get past it?? Do they all worry about him becoming a problem?? Would love some input. How much do you push it and how much do you walk away from??? He has excellent grades and all the instructors have commented he will make a great nurse. Any thoughts would be helpful.

Thanks

rbs105

[BabyLady, BSN, RN]

Yes, I would wager that this borderlines discrimination, because if the instructor is a woman, and if you had female that said, "I am so sick and tired of all of the references to nurses in Media videos!"...she would have been reported to the safety officer.

I'm a female, but if I were a guy, that would make me mad as a hornet.

[itsbuzzy]

I really like the show Nurse Jackie. I think it's funny. The fact that both male nurses that have had screen are both, is a little stereotypical, but it is only 3 episdoes in now. They may have some more that haven't showed up yet. I know that doesn't really go with your post, but I like the show. lol

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

There's always two sides to every story. Perhaps he wasn't innocently having a conversation, but was a bit aggressive in his opinion, or there's more behaviors than just this one conversation the instructor is concerned about.

Obviously he needs to talk it out and tread carefully.

Stereotypes are wrong. But being "disgusted" is a bit of an over-reaction in my opinion and perhaps reflects homophobia.

Around here there are five str8 guys for every gay guy and I've never heard any complaints about stereotypes. But it might be regional, or it might be conversations they have away from me.

[PacoUSA, BSN, RN]

The portrayal of male nurses as gay on TV programs is something that will take a while to become a thing of complete historical significance. We are making some inroads into this however, when you have shows like "Private Practice" where one of the male characters is a heterosexual nurse-midwife.

The male student the OP mentioned is in an accelerated BSN so I will have to assume that he'll be done fairly quickly in the program. Hope he can do his best to fly under the radar until he gets his degree and move forward with his career.