Gay male nurse stereotype?

PadawanLearner · Jan 18, 2008

Maybe you just need to take your gaydar in for calibration. :lol2:

gonzo1, ASN, RN · Jan 18, 2008

Don't know where it comes from but I have been a nurse for 5 years and only a very small percentage of male nurses are gay that I know of.

People love to talk and I think this perception has been blown way out of proportion because some people seem to find entertainment in this situation.

allnurses Guide · Jan 18, 2008

I think the stereotype comes from people's perception that nursing is a career for females and why on earth would a male want to do it. "He must be gay".

I imagine women truck drivers have to contend with the same stereotyping.

steph

Reno1978, BSN, RN · Jan 19, 2008

We are in a profession that is predominantly women. I think the stereotype is mostly from peoples' perception that men in such a field must be gay. I don't know...or maybe your gaydar does need some tuning up! :bugeyes: . I don't think it's a very strong stereotype seeing as I can't even count how many of my coworkers try to hook me up with whatever female family member or friend they have around my age and I'm GAYGAYGAY.

al7139, ASN, RN · Jan 19, 2008

Ok,

Here is my opinion:

First, I was in a class that started with 106 students. 5 were male. NONE were gay. I think it is the public's perception of nursing as a female role.

While I was in school, I worked as a nursing assistant on a unit with threee male nurses, none of whom were gay. I had several male patients who were very uncomfortable with receiving care from a male nurse. They had no problem being stark naked in front of me, but when the male nurse was in the room, they were reluctant to let them do complete assessments (i.e. GU checks, foley care, etc.). I even had one pt say to me he didn't want a male nurse bacause he "must be queer if he's a nurse" !!!! After I told him the nurse was happily married with children, he changed his attitude, and was ok with having a male nurse as his caregiver.

I think it's an attitude left over from "the dark ages" of medicine when there were female nurses only, and doctors were male, never female. Funny how the doctor stigma changed, and the nursing one didn't.

It's up to us to educate the public that nursing isn't just for women anymore, and men make some of the best nurses I have had the pleasure to work with.

Amy

evilohmy · Jan 20, 2008

I think the stereotype comes from people's perception that nursing is a career for females and why on earth would a male want to do it. "He must be gay".
I imagine women truck drivers have to contend with the same stereotyping.
steph

I am actually going to school with a girl who is an ex-female truck driver, going to school to be a nurse. I just thought that she has had some interesting career choices.

edogs334 · Jan 20, 2008

I find my experience to be quite a contrast from al7139's. It was usually some of the female patients who had a problem with me doing EKG's, starting foleys or helping them with elimination tasks (I'm male). I can understand why they might feel uncomfortable- especially if they're younger or closer to me in age. I never, however, ran into a male patient who wouldn't be exposed in front of me because he somehow thought I could be gay. I think the stereotype of "male nurse = automatically gay" still exists. Other than the stereotype of nursing only being suitable for females, I don't get why people would think someone's choice of profession would automatically be equated with their sexual orientation. By the way, none of the male nurses I worked with at my old hospital were gay (not that you can really tell all the time, anyway). There was one PCT who was gay, but he was a stellar tech, and I don't think any patients ever had a problem with him simply because of who he loved. His sexual orientation was quite beside the point, to both staff and patients alike, and that's the way it always should be.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jan 20, 2008

so, a question has arisen in my mind since i have been in cna class waiting for nursing school to start.
there are only 2 guys in my class of 25, and the other guy is married and i'm gay. after doing clinicals in the hospital, i have yet to see another gay male cna or nurse.
where does this stereotype come from? i am not seeing it at all.

when i started in nursing 30 years ago, there were very few male nurses and all of the male nurses i knew were gay. (or at least said they were.) all of them. every single one. it wasn't until 1985 that i met a few male nurses who weren't gay . . . things have changed now. but 30 years isn't that long ago, and the sterotype persists.

SacredPath · Jan 24, 2008

As a gay male, I was surprised that there were not more gay men in school. Someone who is gay and working on his PhD in nursing said that his theory on this is that nursing as a career for men has become more mainstream, so more straight men are coming in. In my class of 40, there are 7 men. 3 of us are gay. Practicing bed baths today, the young woman I was working with said she was relieved to know that I am gay!

hikernurse · Jan 24, 2008

I know and work with both straight and gay male (and female) nurses--and some who choose not to share .

edogs334 · Jan 27, 2008

I find it kind of silly that some people still might still think that one's sexuality might be a factor in terms of what profession one chooses. In the unit where I worked (as a PCT), none of the male nurses were gay (at least not that I knew of). There were a few physicians (male MD's) on the unit, however, who were gay. In the U.S. (and maybe even in the rest of the world) there are more than a few examples of gay cops, firefighters, construction workers, lawyers, and engineers. Hence, in my viewpoint, there is most likely no correlation between the "manliness" (or degree of male domination) of one's profession/occupation and one's sexuality.