by hyalophora09

Hi, I new to this but I have a question thats really bothering me.I was wondering if any of you male nurses had any experiences of guys you've been friends with for 10or20yrs. act different towards you or alienate you all together when you told them that you wanted to become a nurse?I'm 41yrs. old and start Pre- Nursing in mid- August.Every since I told everyone I wanted to go into nursing ,the guys act differently with me ,like I've gone soft.I've had arguments with them about it almost to the point of no return.I was raised by mother who was a nurse for 42yrs.She raised me to accept the reality that life has for you now and then,I guess this is one of them.It kind of bothers you when someone you've known that long won't even say hello to you anymore.I figure "F##$ em"What do you think?

Re: Does becoming a male nurse mean that you have to change your friends also?

If they are real friends...they will stand behind you..sounds like they have their own security issues....If you were going to go to a terrorist school I could understand their backing off....I have learned..that sometines it is because they are stuck and can't change what they are doing that makes them jealous as well. Maybe time will bring them around...don't try to sell them on your life choice..because it is your life and your choice.. I am not a nurse...but I do not think any male nurse I have met is wimpy by anyones standards.

Re: Does becoming a male nurse mean that you have to change your friends also?

I had no issues with any of my friends, although all of them knew my intent to go into some medical field and all of them knew me as I went through my EMS training. I hate to bring up the age thing, but I suspect that all your friends are of an age that grew up thinking that nursing was only a girl's job. The one thing that will probably change about your friends, and I've found it to be for the better, is that you'll make lots of new friends and most of them will be attractive, intelligent, and compassionate females across the age spectrum. Just sayin'.

Mike in Michigan

Re: Does becoming a male nurse mean that you have to change your friends also?

Are you joking? They feel you've gone soft? What a stereotype! Being an RN, male or female, on a hospital floor is a tough job that requires a lot of patience, energy, tact and skill. You are the liaison between the patient and everyone else involved (the family, doctor, case manager, PT's, RT's, pharmacy, ect.). Being an RN in 2009 is much different than it was 40 years ago....or even 20 years. The standards for what a nurse needs to know have increased exponentially. I know some RN's that have more medical knowledge than Dr's and that is the honest truth. Tell your friends to get over it...and eventually, when a medical problem arrises with them or their family, they will be impressed with your medical knowledge and ability to problem solve. Everyone that I have talked to has a lot of respect for nurses, and I'm a male. Yes, that stereotype still exists but will slowly be broken. Much like women in politics and business.

Re: Does becoming a male nurse mean that you have to change your friends also?

Yeah you better find some new friends. After I became a murse, I lost all my male friends who had real masculine jobs such as logging, cosmetology, and interior decoration. For a while I had to hang out with the red hat ladies because only they could understand the real me. Really dude, your job should not define who you are as a person. It sounds like you yourself might have some insecurities about the nursing gig. Take some time to evaluate what you want before jumping into this job.

Attached is a pic of us at a book club meeting. I am the one in the front row with the purple boa.

http://douglaslibrarycanaan.org/reso...post+sized.jpg

Re: Does becoming a male nurse mean that you have to change your friends also?

Hi, I'm still trying to figure this site out,so be patient with me.Love the boa,have I seen you around here?I don't think I have any insecurities about beeing a nurse.I' ve spent most of my life around nurses and hospitals.I have no problems with bathing,vomit,urine,feces,etc...I spent 2 and half months living in a jeep in a parking garage at a level 1 last summer with a friend with cancer,thats what I think bothers me.My friends know how I am.I lost over 300lbs. in the last 2 1/2yrs. to get here (diet and exercise,no surgery).Maybe it's that and the nursing thing thats the problem,I don't know,All they say is (It's not who I am).I guess I'll have to hang with the girls then.Whats starting to freak me out is having all the responsibility with peoples lives.P.S. I didn't think any of you guys would answer my post seeing I'm not an R.N..

Re: Does becoming a male nurse mean that you have to change your friends also?

Tell em your going to be a flight nurse or some other macho crap!!!

It is probably the fact that you are moving in a positive forward direction and they are not.

Re: Does becoming a male nurse mean that you have to change your friends also?

Originally Posted by Snowman22

Are you joking? They feel you've gone soft? What a stereotype! Being an RN, male or female, on a hospital floor is a tough job that requires a lot of patience, energy, tact and skill. You are the liaison between the patient and everyone else involved (the family, doctor, case manager, PT's, RT's, pharmacy, ect.). Being an RN in 2009 is much different than it was 40 years ago....or even 20 years. The standards for what a nurse needs to know have increased exponentially. I know some RN's that have more medical knowledge than Dr's and that is the honest truth. Tell your friends to get over it...and eventually, when a medical problem arrises with them or their family, they will be impressed with your medical knowledge and ability to problem solve. Everyone that I have talked to has a lot of respect for nurses, and I'm a male. Yes, that stereotype still exists but will slowly be broken. Much like women in politics and business.

So, how long have you been in nursing? Just because you are probably a new grad or with little experience in the "real world" you set yourself above all of us who have been around for a while, 20 years plus. What we had to do and know is all relative to the time. I worked on a M/S floor for 6 months before going to the the OR. I had 20 patients a night! So time has nothing to do in what you know or can do. You work no harder than I did 30 years ago so don't give the impression that it is tougher today.

Re: Does becoming a male nurse mean that you have to change your friends also?

Originally Posted by shodobe

So, how long have you been in nursing? Just because you are probably a new grad or with little experience in the "real world" you set yourself above all of us who have been around for a while, 20 years plus. What we had to do and know is all relative to the time. I worked on a M/S floor for 6 months before going to the the OR. I had 20 patients a night! So time has nothing to do in what you know or can do. You work no harder than I did 30 years ago so don't give the impression that it is tougher today.

I sense you had a rough day/night on your unit. Maybe you should reread my post because I have no clue what you are talking about!?! How did I set myself above a nurse with more experience like yourself? You must be pretty lonely and desperate for attention to make a comment like that which is completely off topic from the initial question. Also...I know that you looked through my profile to check me out and could obviously tell from my posts that I am a new RN. I was sticking up for nurses and saying that I know some that have more knowledge than Dr's. I was not speaking about myself. Also, I have plenty of so-called "real world" experience. I am over 30 yrs old and have been in the medical field for 8 years but way to go for being so presumptuous, I hope you aren't that way with your patients! I have been a CNA, LVN, and now I am an RN. How dare you act so entitled and try to belittle me. Good for you and your experience...get a life. You cannot deny that the standards for entry into the profession have increased over the past 20 - 40 yrs and that's all I was saying. It's was a tough job then and now, but nurses are finally starting to get more respect. Get some rest hothead .

Re: Does becoming a male nurse mean that you have to change your friends also?

That's ridiculous. Nursing is an amazing job for guys and there is no "going soft" because of it. I guess if going soft means spending your working life seeing and doing things that most of the world doesn't want to know about because it might make them queasy. I suppose a "real job" for a man would be an auto-mechanic? They change engine gaskets, we change IV's. They look inside the engine for problems, we look inside wounds on humans for problems. Difference is that we make more money and have more education than your average auto-mechanic. If they are hating because you want to go into nursing, make new friends.

Of course you could just tell them you are doing it for the women. Only 5.4% of RN's are men...which means 95.6% of your coworkers will be women.