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?
I am proud to be nurse! On weekends I help out a friend with his race car at a local track. This 14 yo boy walks over to our hauler holding a paper towel to his nose that had obviously been bleeding and everyone around starts telling him what he should do to stop it. I grabbed a paper towel, twisted it up tight, packed it in his nose, (kinda hard to find a tampon in the pits) and told him he needed pressure to stop the bleeding and to keep his finger out of there! He looks at me and said "so who made you a doctor". With a great deal of pride I told him "I am not a doctor, I am a Nurse." Now my friend tells everyone he has the only race team at the track with a team nurse!
Specializes in midwifery, ophthalmics, general practice.
I am a nurse.........never been called a female nurse though I have patients tell me I am 'no good.. you just woman!'
here nurse is title.. and you can only use it if you are a nurse... thats to say your name is on the register of nurses. so I am quite happy to be called Nurse... its my title. not so sure about my latest title of community matron though......over here it maked people think of the 'carry on nurse' films!!
The Russian word for nurse is translated as "Medical Sister", and there is no masculine form of the word. So all in all things could be worse. Nurse isn't so bad, huh. I am proud to be called a nurse, however I do resent the whole "Male nurse" thing. When people ask if if I'm a "Male" nurse, I tell them that I am a REGISTERED nurse.
This is my problem: the term, nurse, is a description as opposed to doctor, which is a title.
"Registered nurse" is a licensed title.
I think what our comrade from Texas is insinuating is that while we say "Dr. Jones" or "Dr. Bob", hardly anyone reffers to us as "Nurse Betty" or "Nurse Roy".
I really don't mind being called a nurse. However when I called a "male" nurse I usually reply with the statement "Nope sorry, I do not work for the Post Office"
It may not bother men having already joined the nursing ranks, but it may have adverse influence on a far larger population of high school aged teenagers and older men considering nursing as a profession. And like most professions, the nursing profession would do well to be more diverse. I bet this topic would be a good master thesis. :)
I can't think of many job categories that are gender specific, but maids, waitresses, stewardess, and that job title for the oldest profession come to mind. Of course there are job classifications that have been historically female or male dominated, but I can't think of any that first conjure up an incorrect vision like nursing once did for me.
Having younger siblings may have caused me to grow up to first associate nursing with a baby's mouth and a woman's breast. If this is common? Could it be good for the nursing profession?
I don't have a problem being called a nurse......I DO have a problem with instructors refering to nurses as SHE or HER.....which happened all the time while I was in nursing school!!!!!!! :angryfire
This is my problem: the term, nurse, is a description as opposed to doctor, which is a title.
This site has alot of insight into why nurses aren't treated like 'professionals'. Maybe part of it is because 'Dr.' Smith refers to the bedside nurse as 'Kelly', or 'Amanda', or in my case, 'Tim'.
I used to know a little bit of Russian, and like many languages, Spanish included, Russian conjugates verbs into 6 forms: I, you (informal), we, they, you (formal), us. You talk to peers and those above you in the formal 'you'. You talk to friends, children and subordinates in the informal 'you'.
DR. is a formal 'you' address. Referring to you by your first name is a very informal 'you' address. While I will submit that this arrangement between doctor and nurse is the evolutionary model of nursing's past, it is not a recipe for 'professionalism' in the future.
I do not object in the least to being referred to as a nurse. I object to the fact that my training and experience are just so many useless letters AFTER my name instead of a key address IN FRONT OF my name. And even then, my objection is only because, that isn't very 'professional'.
~faith,
Timothy.
Wow!! What an excellent post....I agree FULLY. Now the delima is how to start a change into a higher level of professionalism......any ideas??
I agree. Every nursing text I have ever seen does that, it always ticked me off in school too.
I don't have a problem being called a nurse......I DO have a problem with instructors refering to nurses as SHE or HER.....which happened all the time while I was in nursing school!!!!!!! :angryfire
who graduated Med School in the early/mid seventies (one of the first ten female physicians in her state). On her first job interview, she was being interviewed in a rural area by the town council, who assumed for males she was only a doctor from the waist up. It cuts both ways. According to her she has also been mistaken for a candystriper (her words) more than once when doing rounds.
Now we don't think about it as much since med schools are 50/50 male/female, but for a long time Doctor's were only male. I think we just have to push ahead, grin and bear it to an extent.
malenurse1
171 Posts
I am proud to be nurse! On weekends I help out a friend with his race car at a local track. This 14 yo boy walks over to our hauler holding a paper towel to his nose that had obviously been bleeding and everyone around starts telling him what he should do to stop it. I grabbed a paper towel, twisted it up tight, packed it in his nose, (kinda hard to find a tampon in the pits) and told him he needed pressure to stop the bleeding and to keep his finger out of there! He looks at me and said "so who made you a doctor". With a great deal of pride I told him "I am not a doctor, I am a Nurse." Now my friend tells everyone he has the only race team at the track with a team nurse!