how do we change nurses opinions on male nurses?

Nurses General Nursing

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i guess this kinda goes along with my other post. I our discussion the topic came up that some older nurses do not seem to believe males should or can be nurses. especially in the ob areas. how could their opinions be changed or do you even think it is at all possible?

It does go both ways and if you truly have proof of this being a male nurse issue preventing hire I would go at them from a legal angle.

Yes I know the world is suit happy but if the suit fits wear it LOL

N E way this really strange to me I am male nurse and have never had any problem with any type of discrimination unless it is reverse, meaning that doctors that are known for bad tempers never display them with me and I have never been yelled at by a doc one the phone or in person.

I am a male nurse and I have never had a problem with discrimination. Maybe I have just been fortunate, but I have worked in 4 hospitals and several units. Currently I work in NICU.

Much as a previous writer has said, I have seen discrimination the other way where Drs. show me more respect than my female counterparts. The hospital I work at has a very strong Union, which seems to me to be the biggest deterent to discrimination.

Specializes in MS Home Health.

I do not have an easy solution for the narrowminded nature someone may have based on gender.

My hubby is a nurse so I became a young adult being exposed to this.

renerian:D

I khink Male nurses are incredibly sexy!

Specializes in Hemodialysis, Home Health.

Nurses ROCK .... male or female ! :D

I think it will just take time.

Men have "ganged up" on women and gave females a very difficult time when women tried to break into previously all male occupations.

When the laws changed in the 60's and females were allowed in careers that had previously been all male.

The postal service....was tough. So was construction and law.

I'm sure there's others.

Men just have to show they care and can do the job and want to be team members. It isn't inherent that men are "nurturer's"

There are reasons why nursing/nurturing was a female job for so long.

It isn't the call to nurse sick people that is drawing men into the occupation. It is the $$$$.

The $$$ has FINALLY gotten high enough to attract men's attention..... and,

it beats iron working, roofing, road building, bridge building, house/ skyscraper building.

Better than trucking down a river on a barge in 20 degree weather,

or climbing an oil rig,

sitting on a tractor plowing twelve hours a day - - in the hot sun,...

beats lumber jacking,

beats working in oil refineries and chemical plants...

beats the stress of an assembly line..,

Nursing is a grand job compared to what most American men do.

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

This thread is a year old and still VERY appropos today. But my question is:

Where in the world IS MARK?????

we miss ya on the OB threads, buddy.:confused:

Interesting that so many people express discontent with male nurses. I think this is just that opressed group behaviour thing at work again. I would take a good male RN anyday.

I find that males who want to work in nursing are becoming paramedics--more masculine and then they get to work in the cath lab (legal in my state). I take issue with this since they are not adequately prepared to fulfill a nursing role. The male nurses do a much better job than the paramedics. Just my opinion but I don't think paramedics have any place in a cath lab or working on the floors--possible exception is the ER.

One thing that might help this discrimination: It is a fact that when there are more males in a profession, the average income for all goes up. Similarly, the more females in a profession, the more the average income goes down (this is what is happening in pharmacy--a nursing PhD had shown this). We should encourage men in our profession. I certainly do!

Originally posted by passing thru

I think it will just take time.

Men have "ganged up" on women and gave females a very difficult time when women tried to break into previously all male occupations.

When the laws changed in the 60's and females were allowed in careers that had previously been all male.

The postal service....was tough. So was construction and law.

I'm sure there's others.

Men just have to show they care and can do the job and want to be team members. It isn't inherent that men are "nurturer's"

There are reasons why nursing/nurturing was a female job for so long.

It isn't the call to nurse sick people that is drawing men into the occupation. It is the $$$$.

The $$$ has FINALLY gotten high enough to attract men's attention..... and,

it beats iron working, roofing, road building, bridge building, house/ skyscraper building.

Better than trucking down a river on a barge in 20 degree weather,

or climbing an oil rig,

sitting on a tractor plowing twelve hours a day - - in the hot sun,...

beats lumber jacking,

beats working in oil refineries and chemical plants...

beats the stress of an assembly line..,

Nursing is a grand job compared to what most American men do.

Talk about discrimination and a completely prejudice attitude toward men!!! I am offended! You are entitled to your opinion just like the KKK is entitled to theirs but you are doing exactly what they do when you make mass generalizations and make statements such as this

"It isn't the call to nurse sick people that is drawing men into the occupation. It is the $$$$.

The $$$ has FINALLY gotten high enough to attract men's attention..... and,"

I was called to be a nurse and obviously from reading your post have more compassion and understanding of people and all things wrong with the world than someone who makes mass generalizations could possibly know.

I have been a nurse for ten years, first as an LPN for nine and a half years and slowly steadily worked towards my ADN which I recieved last May and am currently working towards my BSN.

I began my medical career while still in high school taking care of a quadriplegic boy that was just three years younger than I was. He had an accident in a swimming pool and broke his neck at C3/4 and was paralyzed from the neck down. I took complete care of him for 6 years and when he died I began nursing school.

As fate would have my brother had a car accident and became a quadriplegic as well C4/5 and I cared for him until he died two years ago and the biggest problem I have ever had is with nurses that think they know it all and in reallity are just very desparetly attempting to hide the fact that they really don't know $hit!!!

ps Passin thru your location should be hypocriteville

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

Yes i took offense to passing-thru's post too, but have been accused of being excessively critical of her posts, so I did not say it here. Glad someone took notice besides me for a change. That way I know it's not all in my head.

It was sexist, that is all I will say.

The OP has his own agenda going here, as witnessed by his many posts about this and similar topics. I see Passingthru's remark as a tongue in cheek answer to that agenda.

I guess we can find offense wherever we choose. The truth is somewhere in between I figure. But that's just me.

THE FACTS/ statistics are:

Historically, male have ONLY entered females traditional occupations when the SALARIES rose to an amount acceptable to the males.

This is written in history books, re: 1920's, 1930's , 1940's to the present......

Re: bank tellers, secretaries, bookkeepers, and in the 80's a few teachers.

School teaching has not reached the salary level to attract large numbers of males.

Sociology: History of the WorkPlace: Male and Females

(take a peek on the net if you care to look for yourself, there's a few hundred thousand pages to study.)

Sorry you see the facts as an expression of my "hypocracy."

The truth/facts/statistics/history support my simple statement.

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