Do men and women go into nursing for different reasons?

Nurses Men

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Just curious. When I speak with female nurses the main idea is that they are compassionate and want to be there for people blah blah blah and they seem to have the perfect story that they knew from childhood that nursing was for them and it was a calling....I am compassionate too but at the same time I enjoy the science and technology behind nursing and the critical thinking as well and become interested in this profession in my 30's...Please share your thoughts, thanks.

Im not a guy but the reason I want to go to nursing school is for the job security, the sciences, and I would love to help people as well.

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Specializes in Hem/Onc/BMT.

Another female here. If I hear another impassioned "I want to help people!" from a starry eyed 20-somethings nursing students, I'll puke. No offense intended, but really, there are many ways to help humanity. Come up with something better than such a cliche.

Guys, don't think having a penchant for medical science is a male thing. It's my main reason for being in medical field too. And I choose nursing over any others in the field because I like the instant gratification of taking care of problems with my own hands, i.e. clean up the poop when my patient is lying on it and uncomfortable. MDs don't get such honor, :lol2: Nursing is a perfect job for people who draw satisfaction from both brainy stuff and menial work.

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I'm a male in nursing school. I'm becoming a nurse because my experience as an emt has seen the worst and the best of nurse some are

just uninformed and negative and some are positive and know everything they need to know sadly there are more negative mean nurses

than there are happy. I'm becoming an RN because I want to instill that positive energy into the worlds most negative enviroment to help

with patients coworkers and family. Because a positive rn is hard to find these days.

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For me, I wanted to do nursing because it is a job that I can see myself waking up to and wanting to go to work and not dreading every minute of the day and counting down till I go home. I enjoy doing IVs, talking to patients, and even doing cath's lol. Everyday is different and everyday I get to do something different. Not many 23 yr olds can come home and say that they got to start somebodys chemo drip or got to see an organ transplant.

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I had a terrible end to what should have been the best 9 months of my life- I carried a baby boy who would be born at 19 weeks premature without a fighting chance to live. I watched the nurses all around me, their professionalism and compassion touched me so much that from then on I wanted to do for others what they did for me- Life moves fast and time has passed but I am finally realizing my dream to help others! I have been accepted into Nursing School starting Fall 2012! YAY!

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European,

I am a man, and was formerly a teacher. I graduated this last Saturday, so what follows will probably seem painfully precious to the more jaded readers. I was being promoted out of the classroom, which was not what I wanted, and I realized that there are not very many opportunities to move laterally as a teacher. You can be made the head of a department, and have fewer hours with the kids, or become a principal and have no classroom time at all, or you can get a Masters and be even more underpaid than before. Nursing appealed and appeals to me for its wealth of technical knowledge that demands that one be a lifelong learner, as well as the fact that one can continuously grow and change without having to begin your career path all over again. Tired of Level III NICU? Come on over to Pediatric Oncology, maybe part-time hospice nursing. Want to get out of bedside care for a while? Maybe Nurse Education will appeal. And so on. Indeed, growth and change are positive attributes in nursing, as far as I can tell.

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Hear, hear tokebi!

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Specializes in FMF CORPSMAN USN, TRUAMA, CCRN.

Don't know where you are Deuces, but I'd like to hear more of your story on why you perceive the RN's in the area to be so negative. Mind you, I'm certainly not saying you aren't correct in you evaluation, I would just be interested in learning more about your situation. Having been in similar surroundings before, and survived, though not as a fresh grad, I, or others on the board may well be in a position to assist you so you don't have to go through this alone. If conditions are as dire as you make them sound, you will need some help and that is what this board is all about. Do one more post and you will be eligible to use the private messaging, if you would rather do this in private, you could use my mailbox, and I would be happy to help, at any rate, please do reach out.

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Specializes in Corrections, neurology, dialysis.

Nursing is a job just like any other job. You don't need to be called to it. You need to be trained to do it, then prove that your training was effective, pass the licensing exam, then do your job well.

It seems to me that if a man goes into it for the money it's okay, but if a woman goes into for the money well, she's selfish or stupid or.........(insert your negative adjective of choice).

I went into it for the money and I'm glad I did. Lots of people around me who pursued other paths are out of a job right now. I am happy that I am able to make a decent living and stash some money away for the future. Yes, it is perfectly fine to go into nursing for the money. If that is why you want to do it, don't let anybody bully you out of it because nursing is supposed to be a "calling". For some people it is and that's fine. In my mind work is work. Whatever job you end up doing just do it well, don't call off very often, treat your coworkers well and you'll do just fine.

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Specializes in Forensic Psych.
I had a terrible end to what should have been the best 9 months of my life- I carried a baby boy who would be born at 19 weeks premature without a fighting chance to live. I watched the nurses all around me, their professionalism and compassion touched me so much that from then on I wanted to do for others what they did for me- Life moves fast and time has passed but I am finally realizing my dream to help others! I have been accepted into Nursing School starting Fall 2012! YAY!

Congrats on your acceptance!

I'm so sorry for your loss. I cannot even imagine the pain that you've had to endure, but I know the experience will translate into being an awesome support system for struggling parents! Good luck to you!

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Specializes in NICU.

hmm, the "calling".... I am a female RN and I work in an NICU... I fell into nursing by mere accident... I did not know what I wanted to do with my life at all, my Mom and Dad told me Nursing was a good field- always needed, becoming more in demand and not bad money... so I tried it out... I loved it, and working in a NICU is really a dream come true- but that is a different story all together. So, I guess it started out as a security issue, and now I really cannot ever see myself doing anything else... Most of the nurses I work with (they are all pretty close to retirement)- have said that it was one of the only professions that was interesting at the time- that was widely available to women (other than teaching...) Hope I answered your question...

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Specializes in (Nursing Support) Psych and rehab.

Biology had always been my favorite subject. I have always been interested in.science. Psychology opened my eyes to what goes on in our heads and anatomy and physiology intrigued me! What can I say I love science! I wanted to be a teacher when I was a child, but as I grew up and really got into the nitty gritty of the sciences and I switched to wanting to be a nurse. Curiosity and fascination by the human body with all of its functions, malfunctions, dysfunctions, non-functions is what drove me to nursing school

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