Top 10 Myths of the "MURSE"

Nurses Humor

Published

Okay, somebody had to say it (and I am not sure if anyone has, only a member for a short time), so it might as well be me! As my name on this site would imply, I am a MURSE (that is to say a Male + Nurse = MURSE). And I just wanted to put to rest some common myths about such strange creatures as myself.

1. NO I AM NOT A DOCTOR!: First of all I work for a living. Secondly, I didn't flunk med school, or settle to be "just a nurse" It was a conscious decision.

2. No, I am not homosexual: Some male nurses are gay, I don't happen to be one of them. Just as not all female mechanics are lesbians, I am sure some are, but not all. (P.S. Personally I don't have a problem with anyone's lifestyle, especially nurses or mechanics these are just examples.)

3. No ladies, we don't have a problem with you asking for a female nurse to take care of you, the problem we have is when we see that all of your doctors are men, yet you have no problem with them caring for you. I still don't get that double standard....Someone please explain!

4. To our female co-workers: yes we can help you reach that, lift that patient, or take the handsy old guy patient, we know our role, just remember to say thanks every once in a while (boost our male egos, that's all we want)

5. Yes we have heard it all ladies...the embarrassing girl talk, the what's in this season talk, all of the talk, but please don't pull us into your relationship talk to get a "man's opinion." Chances are we are men, and will agree with the man's side of the story on the inside but will say what will keep us out of trouble at work...WE ARE MEN!!!

6. To management: you don't have to prove anything to us, we don't all want your job, we are not a threat to your power because of our gender. So relax, and don't go making an example out of us all the time.

7. Yes I am your nurse, yes I am a man. Now that we have that cleared up....

8. Question: Why do people have to state my gender before my profession? Really. Oh, did you meet Mike? He is a MALE nurse. As opposed to a male teacher or a male bartender. Odd? or is it just me, by the way, the correct title is MURSE!

9. Yes, I love my job, no I didn't get into it for the money, or for the fact that I get to work with a lot of women, if I wanted a job that made a lot of money, and gave me the chance to be around a lot of women, I would have become a night club owner, and never have had to wipe any butt besides my own! I got into the field for most of the same reasons as any other nurse in the world.

10. And the last myth of the MURSE.... Even though we may take some bs from some people in the world we really do love this challenging and rewarding life, and wouldn't change it for the world.

Well I hope this entertained some, informed some, and was understood by all MURSEs out there in cyber land. Thanks.

Mike the MURSE

sometimes i am mistaken for a doctor and am ok with it. i have mistaken a few doctors for nurses and they were ok with it. i dont understand the big deal about being mistaken for a doctor when you are not.

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Whether it is LouisVRN, or Louis Vuitton, we fellows learn to speak the language of all. People are people, and a smile, or a kindness translates in every tongue, and even to the "pre-lingual." A baby does not care why it cries, but I do, and a duck noise, or a lullaby is often all it takes for them to forget the reason for their tears. And a nodding smile, or an ear for a moment, may improve the lot of a nurse who is momentarily stressing because her (or his) baby will not stop protesting the IV that it needs, in order to get well. It is our job to make those moments better for all, if we are able, AND, to know when we cannot. Some things cannot be learned in books.

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Thanks Murse Mike! Humore is appreciated. I work with a couple of Murses. I say the more Murses out there the better!

Welcome!

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Specializes in long term care, telemetry, primary care,.

Mike,

I was cracking up reading your post. Hilarious.

I love working with Murses also!

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Fun read ineed! While I had heard the term "Murse" before, today was a first for "Furse", "Moctor", "Fatient", et al.

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Specializes in OR, public health, dialysis, geriatrics.

Bravo! I needed a good chuckle this evening and your post provided that. I have thought for a long time that being a good nurse is independent of gender and that as a profession we need to get over perpetuating stereotypes.

vmae71, RN, BSN, nurse for (gasp!) over 17 years!

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

i also have to wonder where #2 comes from? though i have been an rn for less than a year of the 12 male nurses i have worked with only one has been homosexual, granted i haven't polled them or anything but i am assuming since the other 11 have talked about their girlfriends or wives and only the one has talked about his boyfriend that i am correct in my assumption. why is this such a common stereotype? i am sure if i pulled 12 random people off the street chances are pretty good one of them would be homosexual, so why do people assume homosexual men are so over-represented in the nursing profession?

probably most of those who still have the perception that all male nurses are gay are my age or older. three decades ago, when i encountered my first male nurse, he was gay. as were all of the male nurses i met in my first 4 or 5 years of nursing. how do i know they were gay? most of them got to be good enough friends that they told me so, and the rest were "outed" by my gay friends. i remember clearly the day i met my first heterosexual male nurse -- september 22, 1982 -- because i married him. although i know that these days, gay male nurses are only a small part of the picture, many folks who don't have as much contact with nurses or don't know any personally are left with their (correct) impression that decades ago, most male nurses were gay.

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To RetiredToSoon:

Your post deals directly with how a lot of men feel about females nurses also. How interesting. As someone who works with the medical field daily, I am always, always amazed at why this confusion exists. In a perfect androgynous world there obviously would not be any qualms on who took care of you and what the caregiver was seeing, unfortunately, until robots are utilized, the Pt has these naturally occurring modesty issues. Just because someone else has seen us, does not equate to the pt becoming indifferent and loosing their modesty. I can assure you that there is an equally proportioned part of the population that feels the same way about their Doctor. I cannot tell you how many Nurse friends I have who have female Doctors , their Daughters have Female Doctors, etc. Its pretty normal IMHO.

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too funny! Thanks for making me laugh RIGHT before the start of my shift...it's gonna be a good day! :yeah:

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Specializes in Critical Care, Rapid Response.

I'm male, been in Nursing for 23 years, never heard the term

"murse" before. Lordy, where have I been? But I do agree with

the points made in Mike's post. Here's one he didn't include, but

I've been told by many female colleagues several times that it's

true-- it's a Nursing math equation:

> males on the unit/floor =

Agree? Disagree? Fire away!

===================== ~ : ^ /' ==========================

* *

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Perhaps you misunderstand the intent of this thread...I did post it in the humor section, mostly just a bit of humorous observations about being in the unique 8% of this field. My father is a nurse as well, I use the term "MURSE" as a way of making fun of myself and the types of stereotypes associated with men who happen to be in this profession. I don't feel persecuted or mistreated....again this is the humor section, right? Also, if you check out the men in nursing section of this site, you will notice a lot of the same things that I have listed here, only I thought it was going to be interesting to all, so I didn't want this one to be just for the guys. I hope this clears up any misunderstanding about my above post. And thanks for the welcome, I really enjoy this site.

Mike, your post is funny. Thank you. I think it's wonderful to have natural ability to make people laugh. I admire you. As for the first person who commented on your post... well... some people have such a sever sence-of-humor deficiency, they don't understand how boring they are. Thanks again.

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Okay, somebody had to say it (and I am not sure if anyone has, only a member for a short time), so it might as well be me! As my name on this site would imply, I am a MURSE (that is to say a Male + Nurse = MURSE). And I just wanted to put to rest some common myths about such strange creatures as myself.

1. NO I AM NOT A DOCTOR!: First of all I work for a living. Secondly, I didn't flunk med school, or settle to be "just a nurse" It was a conscious decision.

2. No, I am not homosexual: Some male nurses are gay, I don't happen to be one of them. Just as not all female mechanics are lesbians, I am sure some are, but not all. (P.S. Personally I don't have a problem with anyone's lifestyle, especially nurses or mechanics these are just examples.)

3. No ladies, we don't have a problem with you asking for a female nurse to take care of you, the problem we have is when we see that all of your doctors are men, yet you have no problem with them caring for you. I still don't get that double standard....Someone please explain!

4. To our female co-workers: yes we can help you reach that, lift that patient, or take the handsy old guy patient, we know our role, just remember to say thanks every once in a while (boost our male egos, that's all we want)

5. Yes we have heard it all ladies...the embarrassing girl talk, the what's in this season talk, all of the talk, but please don't pull us into your relationship talk to get a "man's opinion." Chances are we are men, and will agree with the man's side of the story on the inside but will say what will keep us out of trouble at work...WE ARE MEN!!!

6. To management: you don't have to prove anything to us, we don't all want your job, we are not a threat to your power because of our gender. So relax, and don't go making an example out of us all the time.

7. Yes I am your nurse, yes I am a man. Now that we have that cleared up....

8. Question: Why do people have to state my gender before my profession? Really. Oh, did you meet Mike? He is a MALE nurse. As opposed to a male teacher or a male bartender. Odd? or is it just me, by the way, the correct title is MURSE!

9. Yes, I love my job, no I didn't get into it for the money, or for the fact that I get to work with a lot of women, if I wanted a job that made a lot of money, and gave me the chance to be around a lot of women, I would have become a night club owner, and never have had to wipe any butt besides my own! I got into the field for most of the same reasons as any other nurse in the world.

10. And the last myth of the MURSE.... Even though we may take some bs from some people in the world we really do love this challenging and rewarding life, and wouldn't change it for the world.

Well I hope this entertained some, informed some, and was understood by all MURSEs out there in cyber land. Thanks.

Mike the MURSE

Very funny and a nice reality check!!:yeah:

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