Being around alot of women....Pros and Cons

Irish17 · Aug 11, 2010

Been at this for 37 yrs. The thing you want to remember is to listen carefully and you can learn great insights into how women think and what they expect. If you take these as lessons it helps you greatly in developing good relationships with women that you look at as potential long term partners. It is a doable situation working with all women and still leep your masculine personna. In the end people are people and you are yourself. Just keep quiet and listen to what goes on around you and you will be the one to learn.

gsmeagle2918 · Aug 11, 2010

Ha, one more post in a slew of many, but...Live it up! You are 19 have fun. There is no reason to shackle yourself now just enjoy the attentions you will receive from the fairer sex. If you do find one that fits you i.e. the one; go for it but remember that she will be jealous from time to time. So go out of your way to make her feel special and you will be fine. Good luck!

Gabriel13 · Aug 11, 2010

I've worked in a hospital ER for 5 years. There are a few men left but the majority are women. I am in the greater Pittsburgh area. Most of the women I work with are over 40. The few women around that are younger/attractive are all either married or in committed relationships/engaged. There will be a lot of cattyness and gossip, he said/she said crap. But there will also be a lot of great mentors and much to learn from the women. I also would not recommend dating someone within your own department. Other departments/school is not so bad (I'm sure many may disagree with me, but sometimes it's ok to be a little reckless). In school there will likely be many young women that you WILL be attracted to. Just be sure to put your studies and school work as first priority.

danielcall · Aug 11, 2010

If your attracted to the nursing profession there's a probability you have certain gifts and abilities that some people have regardless of their gender. If your a young man going into Nursing, my best advise would be find older men in nursing who have long standing careers and ask them, "what are the do's and don'ts?" Ask quite a few and you'll get some fairly consistent responses. Most of us have learned the hard way or by watching others learn the hard way. One mistake your making allready is asking "women" for an opinion. Yes there are gender differences yet it's time to see "women" as people and you will truly find there ain't that much difference. With all co-workers, regardless of age or gender your prime goal is respect and that don't come easy. With some though your not getting it no matter what you do. One thing I try to constantly remember is that I am there to assist not compete. Also, I don't remember who said it but you want to avoid dating co-workers at all cost unless you meet the girl you want to marry than go after her with all the ambition you can muster. Welcome to Nursing. It's a trip

floridastudent · Aug 12, 2010

I went to school with some male nurses and found that they made friends easy and most women enjoyed being around them. Currently, I work in team nursing: RN and LPN work together in a district and love working with my male "work husbands" as most of us refer to them. I think for the right man nursing is a great career, just be careful not to date those that you work with because us women can be ruthless at times! :eek:

GtownhoyasDC · Aug 12, 2010

Ha, one more post in a slew of many, but...Live it up! You are 19 have fun. There is no reason to shackle yourself now just enjoy the attentions you will receive from the fairer sex. If you do find one that fits you i.e. the one; go for it but remember that she will be jealous from time to time. So go out of your way to make her feel special and you will be fine. Good luck!

Trust me, I won't shackle myself. I just wanna make sure that I'm focusing on my work first and try to think with my brain when I have to deal with my female classmates in those classes:D. I don't wanna make any mistakes if i did decide to take any chances a female in my nursing class...

GtownhoyasDC · Aug 12, 2010

Thanks for the posts, everyone. I'm taking my time reading everyone's take on the thread I post, and I'm enjoying them, whether I gave them a kudos or not:yeah:

wes_111 · Aug 12, 2010

Women (as well as men) will generally treat you or respond to you according to who you are, and how you conduct yourself. You will be respected if you can command respect and the best way to do this is to be respectful; this goes both with co-workers and patients as well, and both are equally important if you want to have satisfying career. It is kind of a very simple rule, but not always easy in a real life.

You wrote:” at times I can't wait being a male being around alot of women”. Well… this is understandable – you are 19 and seem to be single, so there is nothing to be ashamed of. I believe that if you are in the market for a good girl (show me a single guy that isn’t) there is no better place to be than a building packed with nurses. And the reason is that nursing usually attracts woman who want to be caring and sensitive, smart and reasonable, confident and self-sufficient. In fact, you can be one of the smartest guys on the planet from a pure male point of view:bow:.

However, if you don’t have this deeper calling that is definitely required to be a good nurse, you will suffer tremendously draining most of your energy on waiting for the shift to be over. In other words, try to make nursing and being best at it your priority. Contrary to what some dudes will tell you, it is the best job for guys with tough character; you have to be strong inside and gentle outside to properly tend to soiled bottoms. This strength comes with rare understanding that taking care of others is quite extraordinary way of spending our time. To get to this understanding you also have to read outside of your professional field.

Beside, women are attracted to someone who is able to give his 100% to something. In addition it will make you look much less needy, which is another powerful turn-on. By doing good job you will prove yourself to be trustworthy, that is another plus. Throw honesty and compassion, and you will create a quite rare breed, endangered species actually. By keeping things to yourself, you will create a sort of mystery about you. And there you have it. :smokin:

It’s that simple; no tricks really. Maybe beside the fact that all ladies want to be noticed and praised when they are coming to work with a new hairdo. Especially black girls, simply because they tend to, on average, spend more time and money on their hair. But do not worry, you will learn all the details with time. In fact, they will teach you all the nuances if you will be eager to listen.

And of course, as was kindly pointed already, do not, I repeat do not ask women how to act around women.:hdvwl:

<3_RN · Aug 12, 2010

Well, one of my biggest fears is navigating the cattiness of NS. I'm older so I don't think I'll have to deal with the hottest/skinniest mine field. I doubt anyone would think/consider me that way. I manage to do it in my job now that is heavily female so I hope I can transfer that to NS. Although I've taken one nursing math preparatory class (at my NS) and I didn't much care for the women in that class at all...it was my first glimpse of what's to come potentially. I've liked the women in my pre-req classes well enough or been able to avoid the ones who seem drama magnets...but then you just come off as rude or something...face it you can't win with us women.

So if so many of us are dreading THEM...who's them? :uhoh3:

Advice to the original poster, you'll never really figure out all women or learn how to navigate them completely successfully. Keep your opinions good/bad to yourself if at all possible, be polite, nice, but not overly friendly. Keep separate your real life from you NS life if at all possible. Neutral comments that don't commit you in any way to any specific opinion, unless you feel strongly about the topic and would be unfaithful to who you are as a person if you don't speak up. Don't try to reason w/us, figure us out, or ever think that even the best of us really think anything like men...we don't... :) Smile, be kind, listen if someone needs an ear...one thing I've noticed is that many, many people who are nasty, negative, catty really only want to be heard anyway - they aren't interested in what you have to say unless it is what they have to say. -- No I don't have NS experience, but I have real life experience.

We'll make it! Good luck to everyone. Kim

heidi0807 · Aug 12, 2010

I agree, working with women, can be torture. I would rather work with men who are straitforward and don't care about gossip, drama, etc. Being a guy it should be great because women won't either deal with you too much or share the drama unless you let them. So like bonn bai says: just keep busy working and not get involved. I think its a great idea to take your time figuring out who the drama people are and avoid them as much as possible on a social basis. Hopefully the newer generation coming in (women) won't be so catty and will support one another, but hey, maybe I'm dreaming that. Even the teachers I hear are horrible, not yet in the program (waiting to hear). I have been told by 3 people in the program that if they don't like you, they will find a way to kick you out! Horrible!!!

BSN/MHA/JD · Aug 12, 2010

I don't know how much advice you are REALLY willing to take but if you have any interest in dating a nurse, don't even consider becoming one. NEVER, NEVER get your paycheck and your dates from the same place. Not only will you be the focus of a great deal of gossip (never comfortable because it's never good) but you will automatically be considered unprofessional. As a manager, I've seen this many times (dating coworkers) but I've never seen it work out well, not once. Occasionally the relationship works out but the problems created in the workplace with other staff usually results in one or both being asked to leave. Decide early on, what are you looking for, a career or a social life? In school, either study alone, with members of the same sex, or as a group in a public place. Never one male/one woman or even mixed groups in private. In the workplace, never socialize with the opposite sex co-workers except in public and in groups. If you marry, date, or even just talk socially, YOU WILL PAY a price. Keep your work professional and keep discussion of your personal life to a minimum. Be friendly but don't try to be sexy. The difficult thing to handle will be when coworkers want to be more than coworkers. The professional will back out before it starts. If you do want to become involved, plan on changing jobs. It will be expected of you. Oh, and NEVER EVER date a patient. Not only will you lose your job, you may lose your license.

jdonbbt · Aug 13, 2010

I was in a classroom of :nurse: females in a Nursing College. It wasn't long before a female black girl became my best bud. We had lunches together and shared a lot of info about our lives with each other. It wasn't long before I realized we were getting warm and I decided it couldn't happen and still be civil or friends. She came onto me one day during a day in the hospital and I fluffed it off as if I didn't understand the twinkle, deep stare, and pouty lips:redbeathe were an invitation. It was downhill after that. Because I didn't play, I became the focus of her deep cuts :Dand insults:confused:. The other females knew something was amiss but she wouldn't say I had rejected her....no...instead she made me feel stupid, ignorant, and OLD, and I was older by about 20 years. :crying2:

My advice is to keep it cool, be funny if you can:coollook:, be popular with all factions of the class, don't participate in gossip and don't stick around to hear it...though it's impossible to ignore, try to stay impartial to anyone and any group. Be close to the females who you know are not attracted to you except as true friendship. Those are the ones who will help you, cover for you, and keep you focused. Keep smiling:yeah:! Nursing requires a lot of focus...you can do it without getting involved sexually, without getting macho, without getting egotistical, and without getting your nose dirty.