Change title of "Nurse"?

Nurses Men

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Hello,

I'm a junior year nursing student and this question seems to come up alot: why not change the title of "Nurse"?

It doesn't bother me too much because I care more about taking care of patients than the title of my job, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little annoyed with the term "Nurse". So many men in nursing feel that they have to call themselves a "Male Nurse". Why is this??? You don't hear anything theses days like "Female Doctor" or "Female Lawyer" or even "Male Stewardess". Peolpe see the term nursing as a female caricature: a pretty woman in a white dress and white cap.

How hard would it be to change the job title? Even a small change would help. How about putting the word "Medical" in front of "Nurse" so as a "Medical Nurse", a man could call himself a "Medic" if he so chooses. I've heard of polls that show a large majority of men would support this idea (Surprisingly women too). I think also that a title change to a non-gender biased name would bring in more men to the profession.

So... what would it take? Let me know what you think.

"Meet the Parents" ruined the title "male nurse"

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Specializes in Rodeo Nursing (Neuro).

Ok, I wanna change my vote: Supreme Commander has a sort of ring about it.

This would only be for male nurses, right? Because I'm a second-year nurse (who'da thunk it!) working with a number of 10, 20, and even 30-yr female nurses, and as wonderful as they are, there are times when I feel like maybe I could use just a hint of an intimidation factor--nothing sinister or anything, but if they had to address me as Supreme Commander Mike, it might even the playing field a little, ya know?

Also, doctors might answer my pages quicker.

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Specializes in Rodeo Nursing (Neuro).
"Meet the Parents" ruined the title "male nurse"

There were a lot of objections to "male nurse" on a previous thread, and a lot of cute responses. I especially liked the one that went something like, "Oh, I take care of females, too."

That said, it does seem difficult to avoid the qualifier all the time, and while in principle it does seem about as inappropriate as "white nurse," or "black nurse," I suppose I'd rather be called a male nurse than a fat nurse or a short nurse. I myself have described someone as a "red-headed nurse," not as a job title, but just to clarify which nurse we were speaking of when a pt couldn't remember her name.

One solution, at least in print, might be to write, "male Nurse," although I wouldn't want to diminish the significance of being male, other than as it relates to nursing. I mean, I think if I had to give up being one or the other, I'd be a male ex-nurse.

One of the duties of my previous job was cleaning patient rooms, and since that included toilets, I called myself a Commodore. But it never really caught on.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

I honestly think I like the title supreme commander. This truly could only be reserved for male nurses. It has a better ring than 'nurse'. I think that I am going to start signing my charting with AWilhelm, Supreme Commander. I wonder how long it will take anyone to notice?

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.
Not bad at all. I've lately been reading Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander novels, wherein the postscript RN signifiies "Royal Navy." Hmmm.

"Hello, I'm Mike, and I'll be your Master and Commander, tonight..."

I'm sorry to hijack the thread slightly, but I couldn't resist commenting on this post.

I read all 20 of Patrick O'Brian's novels in that series about 2 years ago (plus the first unpolished chapters of "21" being written at the time of O'Brian's death.) I enjoyed them for many reasons -- but was always impressed with how applicable they were to contemporary nursing. In every chapter, I found passages that could have been written about today's world of nursing. I would love to write an article or teach a class using the books as a teaching aid, but I doubt enough nurses would be appreciate it.

llg

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Specializes in Rodeo Nursing (Neuro).
I'm sorry to hijack the thread slightly, but I couldn't resist commenting on this post.

I read all 20 of Patrick O'Brian's novels in that series about 2 years ago (plus the first unpolished chapters of "21" being written at the time of O'Brian's death.) I enjoyed them for many reasons -- but was always impressed with how applicable they were to contemporary nursing. In every chapter, I found passages that could have been written about today's world of nursing. I would love to write an article or teach a class using the books as a teaching aid, but I doubt enough nurses would be appreciate it.

llg

Never met a tangent I didn't run off on...I've been having similar thoughts, though not as far as an article or teaching. The reports between watches remind me of our report, and the "official letters" to the Admirality are a bit like our nurses' notes. Then there's the flogging, of course, and all the coffee drinking. Oh, and wouldn't one or two coca leaves just hit the spot, right around 4 a.m.?

Plus, I'm an avid birder, so I'm really enjoying these books. Just finished #17, The Commodore (my old title!) and my only regret is seeing the end of the cruise hull up on the horizon.

But I'd better heave to before a mod comes on and orders us to belay the off-topic posts...

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.
Never met a tangent I didn't run off on...I've been having similar thoughts, though not as far as an article or teaching. The reports between watches remind me of our report, and the "official letters" to the Admirality are a bit like our nurses' notes. Then there's the flogging, of course, and all the coffee drinking. Oh, and wouldn't one or two coca leaves just hit the spot, right around 4 a.m.?

Plus, I'm an avid birder, so I'm really enjoying these books. Just finished #17, The Commodore (my old title!) and my only regret is seeing the end of the cruise hull up on the horizon.

But I'd better heave to before a mod comes on and orders us to belay the off-topic posts...

You're probably right, but I can't resist mentioning a couple of my favorite parallels.

1. Jack's friendship with old childhood friend Phillip -- who went to the Naval Academy instead of coming up through the ranks. The old sailors knew "you can't learn sailing from a book," but Jack was open minded and was pleasantly surprised to find that Phillip was actually a good officer.

2. My personal favorite occurred in one of the very early books, though I forget which one (perhaps the first). Looking over a group of new recruits, Jack assigned them to tasks (and preceptors/mentors) based on his assessment of their abilities. I laughed when he decided that some would only be able to "heave a rope under direct supervision" because they lacked the intelligence to do anything more. As a staff development instructor, I really liked that.

OK, moderators. I'm done. No need to close the thread or anything.

By the way, I don't think changing the word "nurse" would make much difference and would be a big waste of resources that could be better-invested elsewhere. The world would just think we were being silly.

As Shakespeare wrote: "What's in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

llg

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Specializes in ICU.
How about "tank commander"? I'm going to start calling myself that tomorrow.

-S

I so wish there were more men in nursing. Comments like that make my day. I love being a girl, but being around a bunch of women all day long makes you appreciate how refreshing men are. Anyway, it has nothing to do with the post. It just made me smile. Thanks guys. :)

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Specializes in ER/Trauma.
OK, moderators. I'm done. No need to close the thread or anything.
Hey!

This Moderator doesn't mind a bit of off topic chit chat if it's mostly harmless - so long as we all get back on topic sooner than latter.

I realise that we are humans and conversations between humans tend to wander a bit here and there. No harm no foul - just don't derail a thread with it.

Now if the offtopic banter deals with with bickering, attacking each other or genrally being un-gentlemanly/un-ladylike :nono: That I DO NOT put up with.

We moderators aren't all ogres :p

Well, with THAT said, I'll return this thread to it's topic :)

moderately yours,

Roy

allnurses.com moderator

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Specializes in LTC, Rehab, Hospice and Telemetry.

In all the times I'se seen this question raised, I have yet to hear a suggested title that conveys either the scope of our jobs, the prestive of our profession or simply a title that isn't narrowly confining and otherwise just dorky.

I am proud to add RN after my signature. It says it all!

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Specializes in Telemetry, OR, ICU.
In all the times I'se seen this question raised, I have yet to hear a suggested title that conveys either the scope of our jobs, the prestive of our profession or simply a title that isn't narrowly confining and otherwise just dorky.

I am proud to add RN after my signature. It says it all!

Bravo! :yelclap:

... born a male, chose to be an RN, proud to be a Male RN ;)

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Specializes in midwifery, ophthalmics, general practice.

I have to add my tuppence worth.

I dont understand the objections to the title nurse. It describes what we do (be we male or female), its a title that has been around for a very long time (longer than me even) and our patients on the whole understand what a nurse does.

It would seem that the people who object are new to the profession.. I would say, you knew the title when you joined us!! the title is protected in law here.. and I dont think the hassle of changing it would be worth it. we are currently waiting for the Privy council to approve a register for Nurse Practitioners and so far its taken us 10yrs to get this stage (waiting with bated breath to hear if we can register the title).

I'm happy to be a nurse and yes, here RN means Royal Navy and RM(registered midwife) means Royal Marines.....!

Karen

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