Stereotyping male nurses have reached a disreputable level in my society and beyond, to the point that it started to affect the mindset and the efficacy of male nurses. An eye opener should be addressed on this topic in order to tackle and seal this "infringement". The use of both qualitative and quantitative data is necessary to acquire a stone based stand - interviews, surveys, content analysis, participant observation, secondary data analysis, case studies, meta-analysis, statistics and others. In addition, I hope the outcome of this topic would be to reach definitive answers and solutions rather than fashioning and escalating a new controversial topic.
I wrote this topic for an English research paper and I would like to hear from male and female nurses about this topic - any stories, quotes, personal point of views and real life situations would be helpful.
It's not going to be an all or nothing situation. Sometimes men get preferential treatment and sometimes they are discriminated against. To say that either situation is ALWAYS the norm is simply foolishness.
I had one instructor that disliked men - or at least males nursing students - and that's been about it for me. I haven't received any preferential treatment - as far as I know.
Guys cheer up! The first nurses in the world were men! Though now they say that this profession is dominated by females, it was first taken up by men. I have never seen a male nurse being discriminated. In today's world, there is a need for both male as well as female nurses. Hence, both should be given equal respect.
Specializes in ED, Telemetry,Hospice, ICU, Supervisor.
My hospital has been hiring many new male RNs.
The floors with equal male to female ratio or mostly male staff has higher retention and "staff satisfaction" rates than those with mostly female staff. I don't know why its like that, it just is.
From my perspective as a male RN, it works in my favor. If they want to hire male RNs because administration believes more male staff creates a environment that is more "staff friendly" then so be it.
Lets get more men interested in this profession!
Lets break that old stereotype that "Male nurse=gay".
Two years agoI graduated with an associate degree in nursing. Despite the evidence that all my peers are now practicing their calling in life, I was off the mind set that perhaps a bachelor’s degree was my only barrier to fulfilling my own. As we all know, everyone has their own destiny, yet not everyone makes the choice to follow it. Based on the lack of opportunities that follow my bachelor’s status in recent months, I am not enthusiastically convinced that I am lucky I did. In addition to being a male nurse, I am also an African American. For example, in order to validate many decisions not to hire me as a registered nurse, a nurse recruiter has suggested that I take over classes that the evidence has shown I have completed successfully. As a result, I can emphatically testify to be a prototypical role model of male discrimination of the nursing profession.
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
I'm honestly curious...how do you figure? I've never heard this one before.
It's true......women were considered unpure and other than the Nuns....the men tended the ill and dying....here is an ole AN thread but it a great one.......https://allnurses.com/men-in-nursing/men-nursing-historical-96326.html
Men in Nursing:
A Historical Time Line
The world's first nursing school founded in India about 250 B.C. Only men were considered "pure" enough to become nurses.
Ancient Rome
The term "nosocomial" meaning "hospital acquired" stems from the nosocomi, the men whom provided nursing care in ancient Rome.
Parabolani
In 300 A.D., a group of men, the Parabolani, started a hospital providing nursing care during the Black Plague epidemic.
Early Religious Orders
St. Benedict founded the Benedictine nursing order, while St. Alexis was in the fifth century. Military, religious and lay orders of men including the Knights Hospitalers, the Teutonic Knights, the Knights of St. Lazarus and the Hospital Brothers of St. Anthony provided nursing care during the Middle Ages.
The Alexians
The Alexian Brothers began as informal groups of laymen about 1300 A.D., providing nursing care for the poor.
St. John Of God And St. Camillius
St. John of God (1495-1550) devoted his life to serving the ill and mistreated and was canonized in 1690. St. Camillius (1510-1614) is credited with developing the first field ambulance. He was canonized in 1746. The symbol of his order, the red cross, remains the primary symbol of health care. In 1930, St. Camillius and St. John of God were named co-patron saints of nursing.
First American Nurse
Seventy years before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, Friar Juan de Mena was shipwrecked off the south Texas coast. He is the first identified nurse in what was to become the U.S.
Crimean War
The Crimean War started in 1853. A biographer of Florence Nightingale, regarded as the first modern female nurse, noted that male "orderlies" provided nursing care prior to and after Nightingale's arrival at the Crimean front.
Jean Henry Dunant
In 1859, Dunant provided nursing care after the Battle of Solferino. He was helped found the International Red Cross and the Geneva Convention. He won the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901.
U.S. Civil War
During the U.S. Civil War, both sides had military men serving as nurses. Men were the majority of the front line nurses while female nurses were typically restricted to general hospitals in the major cities.
Specializes in GI Onc,RadOnc, Surg Heart/Lung, MS Tele.
I wouldn't call it out and out discrimination in my personal experience, just minor eye-roller annoyances that a lot of women get in other professions, like 'male nurse' being a lot like 'lady cop,' as if pointing out the sex of the professional were necessary and a part of the job title. It is more likely to come from the older crowd. Or when being greeted by some patients or doctors it's "Hello ladies! Oh - and gent!" That sort of thing. Many books and literature regarding nurses still use/assume the female pronouns when talking about the nurse, but this is changing. Most of the time people are appreciative of quality help period, regardless of whether it's a male or female caregiver. In my 9 years of nursing, I can probably count on one hand the number of times a patient has requested I be replaced by a female nurse. We have some physician and nursing staff from Lebanon where I work who echo your sentiments - machismo seems to still be very much a big deal over there. I don't think it's possible to change an entire culture's hearts and minds overnight, but with time, more men in the profession, and experience/exposure to male nursing, views can change. It took a few decades for it to become a 'norm' here in the states, it will get there in time, too. Currently here, I think the last number I'd read put males at about 12-15% of the nursing workforce here, I'm not sure what the numbers are there, but a lot of the articles I have read about Lebanon show that the nursing shortage is more dire over there than even here.
That being said, yes, most of the ladies still assume that a Y chromosome = a degree in weightlifting, and you'll be chased down for lifting, moving, transporting patients (especially the obese ones) probably moreso than your female peers.
Specializes in GI Onc,RadOnc, Surg Heart/Lung, MS Tele.
...and there I go, calling it 'male nursing' near the end of my prior post. Seems I'm as much of a problem as a part of the solution sometimes. :) No editing after 5 minutes for non-paid members? Hrm.
I've been discriminated against a few times by other staff members, never by the patients. Where I work, we have male/female patients that can range in age from 17 - 85+. The first incident occurred where my 4 patient assignment included a 20 year old female. One of the nurses I work with went to that patients room, after report, before I even had the opportunity to go do my initial assessment and was alerting her that she had a male nurse today and was asking her if she was okay with it. The nurse also explained that she would be assisted with a shower that day and that she(the nurse) would be able to help her(the patient) out instead of the male nurse (me).
I found this to be very unprofessional for a few reasons: 1.) The nurse had her own patient assignment to manage; why is she checking in on my patient only minutes after report was over? 2.) I don't feel the nurse had any right to ask if the patient was okay with a "male" nurse. If I had the opportunity to assess the patient prior to the other nurse going to speak with her, I would have assessed how comfortable she was with me as her nurse. At that point, if she was not comfortable with a "male nurse," I would then have asked a female nurse to assist with personal care or have the assignment changed.
The other incident occurred where the one patient in my assignment was a 32 year old female. Again, I was preparing to assist this patient with daily care (shower, dressing, pericare etc.) Without asking for any assistance, I had 2 female staff requesting to do the showering and dressing of the patient. On the surface, this is all fine and dandy (getting assistance from staff for patient care is great), however, the factors that motivated my co-workers to go out of there way and do additional work (by assisting my patient with shower, dressing etc) is what I find disturbing. My co-workers never ask to help me with work if my patients are in any demographic other than young adult females.
Two of my co-workers even admitted to sending a male CNA home, who was providing constant observation on a young female patient, as they felt they could not trust him to be alone with a young female while she sleeps. They said they felt that he was a liability. Had I known about this incident when it happened, hell would have been raised, however, it was about 8 months after the incident that I was told the story.
The above incidents leave me feeling frustrated with some of my co-workers and am not sure how I should address the issue if it arises again. Accusing someone of discrimination is quite an accusation. The only reason I've tolerated it so far is that I think these girls are just completely oblivious and ignorant to the impact of their actions. On the other hand, they are professionals and should know better. Anyone have any advice?
Specializes in GI Onc,RadOnc, Surg Heart/Lung, MS Tele.
1. Consider perspective. They may be looking out for *your* interest, even if unsolicited. I often request a female chaperone when doing certain things for female patients just to avoid any question. 2. When in doubt, ask the patient if they are comfortable. Your fellow staffers really didn't have a right to go around you and ask the patient if they are comfortable with the situation - that's your job, where appropriate. 3. Bring it up at a staff meeting or to your manager. Worst case, bring it up to the EEO/discrimination/harrassment type officer.
Some pts felt like they could not speak up because they did not want to be rude but were uncomfortable to be honest with being exposed. What if she told that male nurse she wanted a female nurse, but there was no option. Then One might feel uncomfortable for the remainder if the shift. Its better to indirectly offer. It doesn't take anything away from your skills as a nurse. They are protecting you from lawsuits even if the help is not asked for.
zieglarf, LVN
57 Posts
It's not going to be an all or nothing situation. Sometimes men get preferential treatment and sometimes they are discriminated against. To say that either situation is ALWAYS the norm is simply foolishness.
I had one instructor that disliked men - or at least males nursing students - and that's been about it for me. I haven't received any preferential treatment - as far as I know.