Do men in healthcare suffer from burnout?

azcpr · Mar 17, 2011

Could it be that men need to overcome the social stigma that nursing is a woman's job, so therefore men in nursing are generally REALLY sure that they want to be a nurse. I doubt any man wakes up one day and says, "I guess I'll go to nursing school...", unlike some women who seem to choose nursing by default. The person who became a nurse "by default" is going to suffer more burnout than the person who has a passion for nursing.
Not that I have any evidence to back this up, but it's an idea.

Well and the stigma too that men are no supposed to break down and need help.

AgentBeast, MSN, RN · Mar 17, 2011

You show up, do your job, get paid, and then go home.

Mrs. Sparkle Pants · Mar 17, 2011

I think ScottE pretty much sums up how men view their jobs, whereas women tend to show up, do their job, go home think about all the things they did right or wrong, wonder how their patients are doing, scrutinize their performance, worry about what coworkers think of them, etc...which definitely could lead to more burnout. AND before you comment "I'm a woman, and I don't do that." I'm just saying women are more likely to take their work home with them than men, not that this is universal.

ktliz · Mar 17, 2011

By default, do you mean because their woman genes compel them to go into nursing? It's 2011...no one goes into nursing "by default!"

Some women become nurses purely because it's seen as a respectable career that brings home the bacon. A man who is just looking for a paycheck isn't likely to turn to nursing.

Well and the stigma too that men are no supposed to break down and need help.

True, true.

LPNnowRN · Mar 17, 2011

For me I think it's the ability to turn it off when I walk out the door. No matter how bad of a day I had, at 7pm I turn it off and go home and don't think about it until I clock back in my next shift. Most the women I've worked with can't do that.

Tell us how you do it!!!!

interleukin · Mar 17, 2011

Some women become nurses purely because it's seen as a respectable career that brings home the bacon. A man who is just looking for a paycheck isn't likely to turn to nursing."
Your generalities say nothing.
So, you're saying men don't go into a profession because it may be respectable and it provides a paycheck or they may...or may not?
And some women only go for respectable professions that pay...and some don't...and others go into disrespectable professions that either pay ...or don't
Today, many men and women, just looking for a paycheck, are likely to go into nursing. They may not stay long, but in this world of the shrinking jobs and paychecks, all historical "absolute" bets are off.

ikarus01 · Mar 17, 2011

Tell us how you do it!!!!

Easy!

Clock out of your shift, and celebrate you're going home by thinking of all the good stuff you have to do at home, like taking a shower, resting, eating, etc.

MurrR · Mar 17, 2011

Tell us how you do it!!!!

I do it like this: When I'm not there, there's not a damn thing I can do for anybody. Worrying doesn't do a damn thing for anybody. If I stay there all the time and don't take care of myself by going home when I should, there's not a damn thing I'll be able to do for anybody. My co-workers are smart professionals, if I can't trust them to do the job as well as I do then either I need new co-workers or a new job.

It's a boundary I've learned to set ever since my first burn-out experience when I was pretty young.

Pigeons · Mar 17, 2011

I think ScottE pretty much sums up how men view their jobs, whereas women tend to show up, do their job, go home think about all the things they did right or wrong, wonder how their patients are doing, scrutinize their performance, worry about what coworkers think of them, etc...which definitely could lead to more burnout. AND before you comment "I'm a woman, and I don't do that." I'm just saying women are more likely to take their work home with them than men, not that this is universal.

Yah women are more likely than men to over analyze everything lol

Pigeons · Mar 17, 2011

I guess I shoulda reworded my title...

I know that men DO suffer from burnout, it just seems that from the people I have met that worked in health care, men have more endurance.

Actually at least when it comes to nursing men are almost twice as likely to leave the profession as females according to this study done by the University of Pennsylvania.
“7.5 percent of new male nurses dropped out of nursing within four years of graduating from nursing school, compared to 4 percent of women”
http://www.upenn.edu/researchatpenn/article.php?435&hlt

Interesting!

chuckster, ADN, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Mar 17, 2011

It's not hard to get men to provide an unvarnished assessment of how they feel about any particular subject (job, boss, co-workers, the local baseball/hockey/football team even our SOs).

The secret is to buy us beer - and lots of it - then ask.

ktliz · Mar 17, 2011

Your generalities say nothing.

As I stated in my first post, I have no hard evidence whatsoever to back this up. It's just an idea I was throwing out there. The few men in my nursing class all have solid reason to become nurses-- several had experience as a paramedic, one had parents who were nurses. While many of the women had healthcare experience also, there were equally as many who I wondered what drew them to nursing--and this is after we introduced ourselves to the class, including why we wanted to become nurses. Of course, this was only the intro course in the nursing curriculum of an ADN program, so who knows how many will actually make it through the program. Next semester I'm transferring to an ABSN program with a much higher ratio of men to women, so I'm excited to get to know a new, more diverse group of nursing students.