I've been on the receiving end of quite a number of male "nurse" jokes ever since I started college for my BSN. I have not been phased one iota, but now that I'm in school and am around other men, they seem to want to change the terminology to something other than "Male Nurse" (something like "masculine health care technologist" or whatever).
Anyway, I thought I'd do a little research and poll the fine folks here. What do you think: Are you bothered by being called a nurse?
to be honet i have aproblem in that term{NURSE} in our place its not common to have a male nurse so alot of people will be surprised if u said im anurse,,,they will aske a male nurse?? i dont know what else we can use but i prefere another term than a NURSE
Specializes in I got hurt and went to the ER once.
to be honet i have aproblem in that term{NURSE} in our place its not common to have a male nurse so alot of people will be surprised if u said im anurse,,,they will aske a male nurse?? i dont know what else we can use but i prefere another term than a NURSE
There was a time when there was another "N" word stirred up a lot of emotions for a black folk. Then, in the late 80's early, 5 unapologetic [insert n-word here] came on the scene and took ownership of the word.. and thus NWA (not the airline) was formed. Now among the african-american community it's a word that has both good and bad meanings depending on how it is said.
There was also a time when "gay" really did mean happy, "fag" really did refer to a type of shovel and a "pair of boobs" was a couple of dumb guys walking down the hall. I recall an episode of Popeye where Popeye, referring to Bluto, said he was going to "Poke him in the puss" i.e. punch him in the face. When I was a teen I tried hard to be "dope" "stoopid" and "phat". The moral is, words change meanings and connotation.
I'm still in pre-nursing so I'm just starting out but, based on what I've read, nursing has, is, and will continue to evolve. I take pride in the fact that I will be a nurse.. I'm sure I will be seen as a little "NWA" (Nurse wit attitude) by some, but that's all right. I intend to take ownership of the word. I define the word... it doesn't define me.
I personally cannot stand the term nurse. We all did go through HELL to earn it, but I believe the term has a lot to do with the perception of our chosen field. The term "nurse" dates back a hundred or so years to when rich women would hire "nurse-maids" to breast feed their newborns because it was unlady like to do so. Nurse-maids did this as their profession. The longest recorded was something like 50 years that a woman lactated for. Nursing has drastically changed over the years since old Flo, and I believe the title should change as well (no, I do not know what the title should be). I also believe that "nursing" should go to the medical model. This is what we are expected to know at our jobs anyways. P.A.'s seem to be on a higher respect level eventhough their knowledge coming out of school does not seem any greater. Only difference is their title and most are considered masters educated. Nurses are the true physician assistants. Read our oathe. Just my opinion and I am sure some are in direct opposition to it.
I personally cannot stand the term nurse. We all did go through HELL to earn it, but I believe the term has a lot to do with the perception of our chosen field. The term "nurse" dates back a hundred or so years to when rich women would hire "nurse-maids" to breast feed their newborns because it was unlady like to do so. Nurse-maids did this as their profession. The longest recorded was something like 50 years that a woman lactated for. Nursing has drastically changed over the years since old Flo, and I believe the title should change as well (no, I do not know what the title should be). I also believe that "nursing" should go to the medical model. This is what we are expected to know at our jobs anyways. P.A.'s seem to be on a higher respect level eventhough their knowledge coming out of school does not seem any greater. Only difference is their title and most are considered masters educated. Nurses are the true physician assistants. Read our oathe. Just my opinion and I am sure some are in direct opposition to it.
Philip
Your opinion is all over the place.
You badmouth 'old Flo' by which I take to mean both nurse-maids and Florence Nightingale (she by the way, advocated that nursing was women's work.), but then you advocate that I should re-read some outdated oath that harkens back to all you seem to be against. (I never took any such oath.)
You complain that PAs get more respect and don't know any more than you, and then admit that they probably are the equiv of masters prepared. That makes it sound like your GENERAL complaint is education level. Especially since one of your chief arguments is that nurses need to go to a 'medical' model, "since that's what they are expected to know of their job". Huh?
Then you say that nurses are the true 'PAs'. I would think that you would get more flak from this than the term, nurse. I'm not some doctor assistant; I'm an independent practitioner. No doc pays me, and no doc is my 'boss'. I didn't train in that vein and I don't want that title.
Your comment that the term 'nurse' is only a hundred years old is inaccurate. According to the online etymology dictionary, the first recorded use of the term 'nurse' to mean to take care of a sick person was in 1736.
There is another active thread about the term nurse, if you are interested in some current thoughts on the topic.
Specializes in I got hurt and went to the ER once.
i think that the lines of what is medicine and what is nursing are becoming blurred. because of that blurring, perhaps a name change is in order.
as a challenge to all, define "nursing" in a way that excludes what a good m.d. does. define "medicine" in a way that excludes what a good nurse does (including np's and crna's). i don't think you can.
as more men go into nursing i see blurring becoming even more true. it is just not our nature to be subservient. the term nursing has a very subservient connotation with most people. as men we know, whether by instinct or upbringing, that there is a big difference between knowing where you are in an hierarchy and being subservient. men appreciate and in many ways need a hierarchy. we start wars when our honor is impuned.
with that said, and from reading the opinions of many people on this board i could see a name change in the next decade or so. personally, i don't have a strong opinion one way or another... although i'm starting to be swayed by the "we need a new name" school of though. i'm going to execute my scope of practice as well as i can regardless of the terminology.
I agree with what Darth said. The main point of my previous rant is that I believe that changing a title can do a lot to help change the lay persons point of view. With the amount of responsibility that we have as nurses and the painstakingly measures one must take to become an RN the respect is just not where I believe it should be. Maybe we should just try to change it from the inside. However, whether we like it or not there are alot of connotations in a title. If you doctor someone, people think that you care for and heal them. If you nurse someone, people think of feeding with a breast. I also agree with the previous posters that Dr. is a title and nurse is very informal.
Although I can appreciate marineRN's aversion to the term Nurse because of the feminine connotation, I have yet to hear one I would prefer to wear on MY nametag. Most alternatives I've heard presented seem to reduce my job/profession to that of a mere technician. I am not so sure that PAs have more prestige. It wasn't that long ago when the military recognized PAs as Warrant Officers while RNs have always been Commissioned Officers.
Nurse is an honored title, it represents all the specialties in which we work. It is plenty prestigious for me.
I think the term nurse has to be changed from the inside out. We will all be long retired before there is a signifigant demographic change in the field. I think even 25% males will make such a significant change in the attitude of the profession the name nurse wont matter. Until there is a drastic change in the attitudes of nurses, the name wont matter. I dont know if I made that clear, but I truly beleive the name does not matter, it is the gravitas (sp?) weight of character, of the profession.
Recently, on the same night, I had one patient remark what a good doctor I was to spend so much time with them, while another's family asked if I shouldn't get the "nurse" (my female aide) to reset their beeping IV pump. I gently corrected both misconceptions, of course.
Last night, in our little Stepdown sub-unit, all three nurses and the aide were men. We had a pretty good night. Not to slight our female co-workers in the least--they're fine nurses and fine people, and I enjoy working with them, but our boys' club was fun, and an interesting change of pace.
Specializes in ER, Corrections, LTC, ICU, Case Mgt.
Well, I have spent the better part of the last hour reading all previous posts on this subject and have concluded the following.
the majority of male nurses do not object to being called nurses
the majority of respondants Did object to being grouped with less qualified staff, ie NA, CNA, LPN as Nurses
and everyone loved the term Male by birth, Nurse by choice.
I think nurses can be their worst enemy. Change requires focused attention to the major precieved problem. Focusing on defining nurses as those who have a license as a REGISTERED NURSE should be the goal, and finding appropriate designations for all others.
(by the way... Thanks to all the Military nurses (corpsman too)for all you do!!!!)
Corvette Guy
1,505 Posts
awesome pic! thanks for posting it, soldier nurse.
combat medics rule!
:cheers: