Do Male Nurses Get More Respect?

JWG223 · Feb 2, 2015

For personnal experience YES!
I remember being a patient, the male doctors were way ruder to female nurses. I had dressing changes that need to be done. I had asked if I could the time changed. I was told it was fine. Well, the doctor came and was upset that it had not been done. I explained that I asked for the time to be changed. Boy was he mad and ready to yell. Boy did that attitude flip when the MALE nurse walked in. Unfortunatly, I saw that behavior more than once. My theory then was, "I can't yell at this guy, he may punch me".

Exactly. The MD knows that no nurse is going to hit them. This is an intellectual understanding "I'm more important, he would lose his career and possibly his home/car/family. I can't be hit by him".

However, that evolutionary "lizard" as I call it in the back of the MD's brain doesn't think like this. Not at all. It thinks "potential threat...better tone it down.".

Instinct and evolution almost always win unless EXTENSIVE training takes place to prevent it from winning.

All of this happens, likely, while the physician is completely unaware.

bradons · Feb 2, 2015

Depends on the cultural background of the doc to a degree as well.

We have some Egyptian doctors that have a dis-respect for females. However, where I work the females nurses make it loud and clear their attitude of females will not be tolerated.

The docs here tend to have more convo's with the males however, when it comes down to pt care and brains they have their opinion on who to talk to and who is as smart as a brick.

tacomaster · Feb 2, 2015

For personnal experience YES!
I remember being a patient, the male doctors were way ruder to female nurses. I had dressing changes that need to be done. I had asked if I could the time changed. I was told it was fine. Well, the doctor came and was upset that it had not been done. I explained that I asked for the time to be changed. Boy was he mad and ready to yell. Boy did that attitude flip when the MALE nurse walked in. Unfortunatly, I saw that behavior more than once. My theory then was, "I can't yell at this guy, he may punch me".

I notice that when a male patient is being a jerk to one of my coworkers, I can intervene by just having a physical presence. 9 out of 10 times they'll settle down. I'm talking about the ones who have issues with women.

blondenurse12, MSN, NP · Feb 2, 2015

I think it really depends where you are. I worked as an ER nurse in a level II trauma center for a few years. No one really treated the male nurses any different than the female nurses. However, the majority of docs were female and Caucasian. Fast forward to my second job as a CICU/SICU nurse. We had many middle eastern and Indian physicians. Their personalities seemed split, half were very easygoing and treated everyone as equals. However, the other half seemed to only care to interact with male nurses. In these cultures, women are typically seen as second class citizens.

We had a cardiothoracic surgeon who was notorious for being cranky and abusive; he loved to make the female nurses cry. He was just a big bully and he never pulled that crap with male nurses. If a female nurse was caring for an fresh open heart, she would have a male nurse call and ask for whatever it was she needed because if she called, the doc would refuse. If a male nurse called, he'd say "oh sure, no problem". It was really annoying.

Libby1987 · Feb 2, 2015

I think it really depends where you are. I worked as an ER nurse in a level II trauma center for a few years. No one really treated the male nurses any different than the female nurses. However, the majority of docs were female and Caucasian. Fast forward to my second job as a CICU/SICU nurse. We had many middle eastern and Indian physicians. Their personalities seemed split, half were very easygoing and treated everyone as equals. However, the other half seemed to only care to interact with male nurses. In these cultures, women are typically seen as second class citizens.
We had a cardiothoracic surgeon who was notorious for being cranky and abusive; he loved to make the female nurses cry. He was just a big bully and he never pulled that crap with male nurses. If a female nurse was caring for an fresh open heart, she would have a male nurse call and ask for whatever it was she needed because if she called, the doc would refuse. If a male nurse called, he'd say "oh sure, no problem". It was really annoying.

I don't understand how this happens. If a female nurse is competent and confident in her work, IOW she really knows her ****,

how can some known jackass make her cry? If not give it back to him professionally or otherwise, why doesn't she see him as the crazy ass that he is? How does someone like that make a confident competent adult cry?

If I dr refused a legit request, "I will put your response in the record." And then report to appropriate manager.

/username, BSN, RN · Feb 2, 2015

This must be a new law b/c I've been reprimanded for leaving my pay stub out for another co-worker to see. What is this law?

so 1935 is new for you, huh?

blondenurse12, MSN, NP · Feb 2, 2015

I don't understand how this happens. If a female nurse is competent and confident in her work, IOW she really knows her ****,
how can some known jackass make her cry? If not give it back to him professionally or otherwise, why doesn't she see him as the crazy ass that he is? How does someone like that make a confident competent adult cry?
If I dr refused a legit request, "I will put your response in the record." And then report to appropriate manager.

Oh, he was hauled down to HR many a time. However he is a brilliant surgeon and a huge moneymaker for the hospital so nothing has ever been done. In terms of crying, he is a very physically imposing person and can get really loud and in your face. If a nurse had to emergently transfer her patients off the unit to get the open heart and hasn't been able to pee or eat, I can see how she might be stressed and more apt to cry from his abuse.

He never made me cry. If he ever yelled at me, I'd just stare at him with a dead calm, unblinking, unwavering until he finished his childish tirade. He knew he couldn't get under my skin so he stopped trying.

JWG223 · Feb 2, 2015

I don't understand how this happens. If a female nurse is competent and confident in her work, IOW she really knows her ****,
how can some known jackass make her cry? If not give it back to him professionally or otherwise, why doesn't she see him as the crazy ass that he is? How does someone like that make a confident competent adult cry?
If I dr refused a legit request, "I will put your response in the record." And then report to appropriate manager.

Because sometimes competent and confident do not equal having a strong inner sense of self. Also, MD's are more important than nurses. You're talking about a ring where the 3 carat diamond doesn't like the cheap band. Guess which gets replaced...

HR cares about one thing...money. An MD makes money. A nurse loses money. End of story. Unless the nurse has grounds for suing the hospital and a pretty good chance of making SERIOUS money, the nurse will get the boot every time vs. the MD. ESPECIALLY cardiac surgeons.

Mr. Murse · Feb 2, 2015

I think there are occasions when the male factor affects a situation directly, but more often than not, in my opinion, people are putting far more emphasis on it than it deserves. For all of you who have noted men "moving up" quicker in nursing or being treated differently, have you tried to really objectively look at their behavior and interaction with doctors/patients/management in comparison to other employees? Even just comparing women who have moved up to more authoritative positions, you will see certain characteristics of their personality and ways they interact with patients and coworkers that is different from others who have been in the same position for years.

Most of the men I know in nursing who have moved up seemed to deserve it. They were confident, knowledgable, and legitimately more qualified than their coworkers, regardless of the anatomy between their legs. I myself was charging within my first year of nursing and I really don't think it was simply because I'm a man. I had proved myself as a calm, reliable, consistent person even when I was still teching before graduation. Now, does the natural male demeanor and means of handling problems prove to be more valuable in the nursing world? That's another debate, but I don't think simply our sex is the reason. That's way oversimplifying the issue.

On the other hand, I can personally think of a few examples of men who have NOT gone anywhere in years, and it's because they lack the characteristics that are looked for in advancement opportunities. Their genitalia alone have not been very helpful in moving them up in the nursing world because that's really not what's making the difference.

applewhitern, BSN, RN · Feb 2, 2015

Here in the deep south, yes, male nurses get more respect. Tons more, actually.

murse1293 · Feb 2, 2015

Well, in accordance with the census: "In 2011, 9 percent of all nurses were men while 91 percent were women. Men earned, on

average, $60,700 per year, while women earned $51,100 per year." With this data in mind, it is not a far fetched idea to think they may get more respect, but like you said, not EVERYWHERE.

Libby1987 · Feb 2, 2015

I think there are occasions when the male factor affects a situation directly, but more often than not, in my opinion, people are putting far more emphasis on it than it deserves. For all of you who have noted men "moving up" quicker in nursing or being treated differently, have you tried to really objectively look at their behavior and interaction with doctors/patients/management in comparison to other employees? Even just looking at women who have moved up to more authoritative positions, you will see certain characteristics of their personality and ways they interact with patients and coworkers that is different from others who sat in the same spot for years.
Most of the men I know in nursing who have moved up seemed to deserve it. They were confident, knowledgable, and legitimately more qualified than their coworkers, regardless of the anatomy between their legs. I myself was charging within my first year of nursing and I really don't think it was simply because I'm a man. I had proved myself as a calm, reliable, consistent person even when I was still teching before graduation. Now, does the natural male demeanor and means of handling problems prove to be more valuable in the nursing world? That's another debate, but I don't think simply our sex is the reason. That's way oversimplifying the issue.
On the other hand, I can personally think of a few examples of men who have NOT gone anywhere in years, and it's because they lack the characteristics that are looked for in advancement opportunities. Their genitalia have not been very helpful in moving them up in the nursing world because that's really not what's making the difference.

Considering what's expected of nurses these days the strong and fit will be more likely to succeed.

Which I think has less to do what the patient should need.