Do you think male nurses get more respect?

[Meg88]

Hi everybody,

I'm a fairly new nurse, been working for about 18 months now as an RN I work in the ER, and I must say I do like the ER, I like the fact that there is a lot of different things going on, and I like the faster pace.

I'm fairly small, though, I'm 5'3" and are an XS in scrubs, and I swear when people see me, they don't take me seriously, OK, I'm young (just turned 25) and I have been told my my CN and a few others that I am soft spoken. I am always getting a hard time from patients, I would say more than most of the other nurses. It doesn't bother me per say, I shrug it off and go about my day.

There is another RN that works withe me, he's a guy, and not much older than I, but he's about 6'7" and built like a freight train, and nobody gives him a hard time. Do you guys find that Male nurses get more respect or do you think its the fact that he just looks like someone you would not want to mess with? Or both?

[CaLLaCoDe, BSN, RN]

I believe in the "both" factor ;-).

One example where petite nurses have over men of this stature is placing foley catheters on women who would possibly probably be applying super glue to their knees and vice grips had a 6+' man approached with even an added protection of a professional demeanor.

I believe that you will gain more respect in your career by seeing others of your same height outdo the men by their wisdom!!!! Experience is the key to gaining respect. I've seen plenty of old ladies dis male nurses, no kids!!

[PostOpPrincess, BSN, RN]

Males certainly get more respect.

The way you carry yourself as "no-nonsense" will get you more respect.

Confidence exuded gets you more respect.

But..it is not as easy as I make it sound..comes with time and experience...

Good luck....

[chelynn]

I wouldn't necessarily say males get more respect, I like to say "attitude is everyhing" and "it's all in the approach" people get respect when they command respect. Being of small stature and soft spoken you may have to work harder to gain that respect.

[sistasoul]

I work with a male nurse. He is a great guy. I have noticed the male Dr's treat him a little differently than the female nurses. They discuss the patient with this nurse. When a female nurse asks the Dr for orders you only get the orders and that is it. It may be more of a comraderie thing. I don't know.

This male nurse has a girlfriend who is a nurse practitioner. He told me that his girlfriend told him that MD's do tend to treat male nurses with a little more respect than their female counterparts.

As for the patients, I do think a male patient would not give a male nurse as hard of a time as a female nurse. I also think that the elderly ladies would prefer a female nurse and respond better to them.

[Valerie Salva, BSN, RN]

In a word- yes.

I have seen docs yell at a female nurse, then turn around and ask a male nurse in a chummy tone if they saw the game last night.

In my observations, skill, work ethic, and how nurses treat others does not have a lot to do with it. Sexism is not as widespread and overt as it once was in our society, but it still exists.

[locolorenzo22, BSN, RN]

i certainly always ask my female patients if they would prefer a female to help them with any personal needs, although I was a CNA and know how to do all that stuff....

as a nurse, I very rarely run into anyone who gives me a hard time....although those that give the females a hard time learn quickly that I will back them up very quickly...

[Mike A. Fungin RN]

I think there's much more to having the respect of your patients, physicians, and fellow nurses than whether you're male or female. There are a lot of other more important factors, like how competent you are and the way you carry yourself.

Being a 6'1" 190 pound guy hurts me just as often as it helps.

[13905 BSN]

I think this question is pretty ambiguous. Just as easily as you have a 5'3'' female, you could have a 5'3'' male, who is soft spoken as well and "wimpy" (sorry for lack of a better term). You could also have a 6'7'' female who is "built like a freight train." I think this all depends on how you carry yourself. As someone spoke earlier - confidence can carry you a much farther distance than your physical stature - ALTHOUGH I do agree, most first impressions are based on looks. Sometimes the "scary intimidating large male" lacks the ability to create a clinical alliance with the patient which can cause just as many disadvantages as you think your small stature does. With that same token, a lot of people see "large" in structure females as being TOUGH and MEAN and lacking sensitivity. I dont think this is as much a sexism issue as it is just common assumptions based on physical stature.

[horrorxgirl]

I'm not sure exactly what you are referring to (admin, coworkers, etc), but it you are referring to patients respecting male nurses more for instance, sometimes I think they mistake them for doctors. Especially the elderly patients.

Not only that, but I think age can be a big factor too. I work with a male nurse in LTC who is over 6 feet tall. We are similiar ages and we get treated pretty much the same.

I have a few male CNAs on my floor and they get treated with less respect than the female CNAs just because most of our residents are female and several of them only want female CNAs doing their care. Some of my patients are nuns, but even some that aren't are very self conscience about a man seeing them naked. So really, it can go either way.

[RNperdiem, RN]

My ex-military father-in-law would describe your problem as a lack of "command". The qualities of command are required to advance in the military and people are noticing how much confidence you exude, how you speak with quiet authority, how you carry yourself, your body language.

A couple of our female attending doctors are small and quiet women. When you watch the groups of doctors on rounds, it is easy to pick out the attendings. Whatever their size, they possess command.

[diane227, LPN, RN]

Yes I do think they do. Male physicians seem to prefer to talk to a male nurse, especially in a critical care area such as the ED or the ICU.