only guy in my class

[_shymiller]

I'm currently a high school senior with ambitions of being a nurse practitioner. I live in a southern part of the united states and lets just say male nurses aren't too common where I come from. While pursuing my career in nursing I decided maybe I should take the CNA class that my local community college offers to high school students for vocational school. I entered the class with high hopes to see where nursing could take me, being the only one with a y chromosome has its advantages and disadvantages. Some of the girls tease me a little but its all just joking around, I am the strongest in the class so naturally I do a lot of lifting, nothing I wasn't expecting. My instructor is a very nice lady, she worked as am RN for 15 years before deciding to teach college. I do pretty well in the class, my test average is a 90 through 2\4 of the tests we will take. Are male nurses respected in a hospital setting?

[NucRN]

It's all about your own professionalism my friend and how you are able to develop a therapeutic relationship with your patients.

When I first entered nursing school, I had similar concerns. My class only had 6 guys. Once you graduate and start working, you will forget that gender was an issue to be concern with. It truly comes down to your ability to provide quality care.

[funtimes]

It's a total non issue with staff. Many charge Nurses are male and it seems like Emergency Departments and ICUs have a lot of male RNs.

If you do face any sort of backlash or awkwardness its from some patients who don't seem to like the idea of male Nurses. You occasionally find some women who don't feel comfortable having a man doing things like cath them or helping them on or off the toilet, or doing bed baths. If that's the case you do what you can to accommodate them. You also occasionally get some middle aged men who view nursing as women's work and therefore look down on male Nurses, but if someone is so thin skinned that it bothers them they aren't really cut out for healthcare.

I have noticed that unit managers and supervisors overwhelmingly tend to be female. Not sure why that is really, although obviously much of it has to do with the fact there were far fewer male nurses 20 or 30 years ago so the really experienced senior Nurses tend to be mostly women.

I have heard Nursing students complain that male students get favoritism over female students, no idea if this is true or not since im in RT school. When I was in EMT Basic and Intermediate school it was kind of the opposite, where female students were rare but often given a lot more leeway from mostly male instructors than male students were, as the EMS world is still somewhat male dominated.

[johndough]

When I took my CNA class, it was only me and another guy taking the class and a bunch or girls everywhere. However, our instructor was a guy though. It was okay, nothing special about it. When we did the skills practice, we ended up practicing the bed bath skills on each other (only that skill though). It was only partial, but all the girls suddenly disappeared when it was time to partner up.

[lilmissetter]

I only had one male in the basic CNA class I took. He was an EMT pursuing his RN. I am now working in a LTC facility, and personally, I love working with male CNAs, CMAs, and nurses. Women can tend get to be catty amongst one another, but when working with males, they tend to have a "no nonsense, get the job done" attitude that I like. Gender is really a non-issue, but I have had great experiences working with men in the health care field. Don't let gender get in the way of pursuing your dreams of working in the medical field.

[mintygirl]

Your not the first male nurse so you can relax if that's what your worried about.

Nurses in general are not respected, not by doctors, other nurses, families and most of all hardly patients. You'll never really get a thank you except for the exceptional patient from time to time.

The lifting thing isn't a surprise, but eventually with age and experience you might not want to do it as much. Letting people rely on you is one thing, but its another to be on the look out for your own back and spine.

And if you're the one lifting, be aware that falls and bedsores as well as clots are now your responsibility because you now came in contact with that patient.

[_shymiller]

I had no idea just lifting someone could make me liable for the residents falls or bedsores, pretty useful information to have. I'm very excited about this career as a whole, not just the money aspect(that's a nice bonus) but I'm very interested in the healthcare field. I wouldn't say I'm nervous about the outcome so much as nervous about treatment. You guys have a lot more experience with this than me, so I hope all goes well for myself.

[MXRobRN]

Nurses in general are not respected, not by doctors, other nurses, families and most of all hardly patients. You'll never really get a thank you except for the exceptional patient from time to time.

Simply not true, at least not where I work. Act with prudence and professionalism and people will respect the value you bring.

[Carol Austin]

My father has been a male nurse for 30 years, He is exceptional at what he does and I hope I can be as great a nurse as he is someday! Don't worry about the stereotypical "Only women should be nurses" humble jumble! If this is the direction you want to be going, Keep at it!! All the best to you!

[Proton]

There was one male in my class but at my current place of employment, there are about 7 male CNA's just on my floor and a male RN. It's a pretty even ratio.