Has Being a Male Benefited you MORE or LESS

[Socal_EMT]

Hello my name is Richard and i had a question for the male nursing students out there. Do you believe being a male benefited you in ANY way during the admissions process? how about in your interview (if you had one) Or how about a professor making a comment about you being a male nurse? Please post your experience so far. Do you really believe in the minority quota? Lets say you have identical admissions criteria as a female, would they give priority over a male?

[Thujone]

No, the expectations have been the exact same for my female peers. I didn't get any special treatment outside of a few things that are uncontrollable. For example, one time two girls were speaking poorly of a patient in the bathroom of a LTC facility, and the DON just happend to be in one of the stools. She told my classes teacher about this incident. My teacher went off on the entire class and made threats toward everyone. Everyone except me because of course I couldn't have been me. I wouldn't have been in the girls bathroom, I'm a guy haha. So, outside of irrelevant things like that, no, being a male has made literally zero difference for me.

[Socal_EMT]

thank you all for your insight.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Just wanted to pop in and ask you to change your avatar to something more anonymous. You really don't want to trip up by accidentally 'outing' yourself because someone recognized you. Unfortunately, the consequences of imprudent use of social media are much greater than you can even imagine. Students have been expelled from nursing programs for social media lapses. Nurses lose their licenses. It's very real.

[Socal_EMT]

thank you for your concern, but I'm involved in a subjective discussion with my fellow peers. I am doing nothing wrong and have stated nothing to harm anyone.

[tfiste]

Female students actually like having male students in their cohort (gasp). It is logical for an institution to have certain spots only available for competition among males. I read a post earlier in this thread that confirmed this but it is painfully obvious if you just think like an admissions director trying to pull students.

In practice, I have experienced interested faculty, and like others have said, I stand out. Faculty who have years of experience have also flat out told me I will have an easier time in this field as a male and that I will progress easier.

I have gotten less clinical experience in certain areas than female nurses. Male nurses are more often rejected by patients. Male nursing students need to be very lucky to learn anything meaningful in OB clinical.

Females in my cohort often tell me about the annoyance of the female-on-female bitchery that occurs. Being male is often a relief to an all female floor and a neutral presence in the field.

The post about watching what you say is true. Being a nurse is a professional field and when you are in the workplace, rumors like everything I just said are likely not true.

Finally, never bring up being male or that there is a male shortage. It is common knowledge, and universities don't ever discriminate unfairly.

Also, I have seen some female nurses who blow male nurses out of the water. They are kinda rare, but when you meet a bona fide "Florence Nightingale" you will truly respect what a female nurse is capable of :)

Men are different nurses, not better nurses.

[Neural]

Being a male didn't help me get into nursing school, but it did help during the hiring process. Some hospitals like the "diversity"

[barcode120x, RN, NP]

I think for admission into nursing school, being male has no effect on getting it whatsoever. My nursing school admission was based on GPA/waiting list. Actually, it was a lottery list. We were guaranteed admittance but the time of getting in was any time in the next 2 years. So, in my school's case, gender had 0 significance in the admissions process. There was no interview at all either.

I NEVER had an issue with any instructor, nurse, or fellow student making a negative comment about me becoming a male nurse throughout nursing school. I've had plenty of positive comments though, especially from patients and their family members.

In terms of the minority quota, I do believe it's there in regards to finding a job. As someone mentioned, hospitals do like "diversity." There are numerous arguments and studies in this forum and all over the web in regards to if being a male increases chance of getting a nursing job. I believe so, whether it's 0.00001% increase chance or greater. But that's aside from the main topic. Overall, to answer your title, being a male has benefited me both in nursing school and as being a working nurse.

[Guest849204]

To my knowledge the only definite gender difference is that most places require a female healthcare professional to be in the room if a man is going to perform a breast or lady partsl exam on a female patient.

There's also the fact that men are a minority in this profession which might give us a slight advantage during the hiring process if the facility is trying to actively diversify its nursing staff.

In terms of actual good reasons to base a decision on being a guy, some patients may be uncomfortable having female nurses perform certain procedures so its probably a good idea to have a male on the floor to help in those cases.

In the end, you skill as a nurse, networking capabilities, and how well you interview are going to be most important, but as a new grad I can see men having a slight advantage when up against other new grads where experience isn't a factor.

[dunce002917]

While rumors of the scarcity of males in the nursing field may be true, i never relied on my "male"-ness to get ahead. I busted my but to get the high grades, TEAS scores and volunteer work to make me a prime candidate for nursing school. If my sex, ethnicity and bilingual status helped me get ahead, so be it. In the end, it is still the work I put that would determine my success in the nursing field.

However, I would imagine a slight disadvantage for being male in areas where sex/gender are still a lingering issue. Finding jobs in OBGYN and offices that cater to female reproductive health may be tough but I can always work in other areas where gender is not an issue. It is just the matter of casting your net wide enough in areas of your interest and being open to other opportunities. While I'm still open for jobs in OBGYN and the sort, I would not put all my employment eggs in one basket.

[Zooey72]

I was outright told that I was going to get points because I am male. Since I am against ANY form of AA, I did not take that as good news. It is demeaning, and it is wrong. I just got into nursing school, and I know I did not need any advantage for being male. I got all A's and one B+(A&P2) in my prereqs. and scored higher than the national average on the TEAS. White female students who did not do as well as I did got in, so I know the deciding factor was not my genitalia. AA is institutionalized cheating.

[NuGuyNurse2b]

Don't confuse sexism with affirmative action.

[NorCalKid]

In nursing school no, didn't matter one bit.

In hiring process, yes I believe it helped.

On the floor, no difference.