I was kinda wondering if this would be the case. so sad how sexist society is. I hope I never get a promotion at the expense of a more qualified female candidate. (of course, I also don't really want to go into management either, though becoming a nurse practitioner and having more autonomy would be nice.)
I would hope that men working in traditionally female roles help break down gender stereotypes, and make everybody freer and more equal in the process. If men can be nurturers then women can be leaders and thinkers. it would just be sick if patriarchy and sexism has crept into something good and healthy like that. I wonder, does anyone know where there are statistics on comparative average rates of pay for men and women in nursing? I'd be very interested to see if those are equal or not.
it's good of you to be considerate like that. do you mean he quit because people kept incorrectly assuming he was gay? I've always wondered why the big strong straight guys freak out about this. I get assumed to be straight pretty much every day of my life and I never have a crisis over it...
could any guy who reads this do me a favor? if it bothers you to be assumed gay or feminine, but you try to respect gays and women as equals, could you really think about why you're bothered in the first place? is that an indication of real, deep respect?
I never hear of a professor with only a masters degree being bothered because people keep calling them "doctor." seems to me that people only get upset or put a lot of effort into correcting people when they're assumed to be something "beneath" them. not that there's anything wrong with being sensitive to straight guys, but maybe instead of putting lots of effort into convincing people a male in a traditionally female profession is still traditionally masculine (...), we could talk about how men, women, and everybody in between will benefit once we as a society stop trying to force everyone to fit into narrow little roles that were invented to keep macho straight men on top.
No, my classmate did not quit over sexual orientation issues, not at all...it was difficult for him to fit in a female dominated group. I spoke to him about the importance of he being different and the wonderful contribution he could make precisely because he was a male nursing student. That conversation we had seemed to temporally make him feel better within the group. However, he eventually left the program. I hope this clarification was helpful. Best, feliz3
Specializes in OR 35 years; crosstrained ER/ICU/PACU.
hey....it's a nice idea, but where i work (amb. surgery or), of the 15 full-time staff, 7 are guys (2 or techs, 5 rn's). our don is also a male nurse. here, everybody helps each other....doesn/t matter whether we're women or men. when you have to move a 300# pt to the or bed, male or female, you need help so you don't kill your back - anybody who comes in to help is appreciated!!! our previous don - female - always bought us all little trinkets - a lanyard, pen on a retractable clip, cups, etc, & used to attach them to a single rose for each of us, guys included. they got a kick out of it, we have a picture of them all holding their roses! our present don now schedules lunches &/or breakfasts (contributed by our docs, various vendors, & the don himself). the difference between male & female brains!!! food vs. flowers - go figure! at any rate, we celebrate each other for who we are - nurses - doesn't matter if you're male or female...we all do the job, we all help each other. it's called teamwork. and, by the way, back when i did floor nursing, i had my share of requests for help by male nurses, esp. for the elderly female pts. who voiced discomfort with a male bathing them or putting them on a bedpan. it works both ways, guys! we're glad to have you on-board! but stick to the nurses' week we have & enjoy!
No males on my floor and when they call a grey alert (family/pt flipping out) a team comes and the guys come to watch.............no one calls them..
Pretty soon it will be male secretary week, male bosses week, grandfathers day...too much we need to stay together...unless the larger group of RN's got the best present...steak vs. pancakes..:)
Intersting Thread... Some observations from the Y side: SmilingBluEyes is on the right track. Nursing needs more unity and less divisiveness. That being said, recognizing and welcoming the individual contributions of our colleagues to the team effort is often overlooked.
How about a Professional Nurses Week? We are already at the bottom of the health care recognition slope, and we all know what winds up sliding down hill. The expectation for nurses from both patients and administration is to deliver the competent, compassionate, consisent care deserved by each of our patients disregarding our human inability to function at that level of perfection. Let's goad our Professional Nursing Organizations into a coalltion representing our all of our contributions to health care. Let's ignore our differences and present a competent, compassionate, consisent agenda to the administrators showing just how much we really impact their bottom line success I am Nurse, hear me roar.
Oh, BTW, I only need seven seconds, though as I grow older, they are more difficult to locate.
When equal rights for equal pay came about, it became illegal to grab guys to do our heavy lifts for us. All the gals on my floor do our own lifts or we grab another female to help lift. If a patient on our unit it out of control I am usually asked to assist to do my background in pysch.
so much for being special lol
LOL. Typical. You all talk one story, walk another.
We've been there done that, and the majority of nurses call for the male nurse. Not some, not a select few, not even "a lot". THE MAJORITY.
You'd feel different if you were on our end and had to deal with it, trust me.
Specializes in OR 35 years; crosstrained ER/ICU/PACU.
LOL. Typical. You all talk one story, walk another.
We've been there done that, and the majority of nurses call for the male nurse. Not some, not a select few, not even "a lot". THE MAJORITY.
You'd feel different if you were on our end and had to deal with it, trust me.
Ooooooh.....somebody sounds bitter. Like I said earlier....we have to play as a team. We're all here for the same thing & that's care for the patient. If you feel you're abused, call for a staff meeting & discuss it with your colleagues. Maybe ask them to consider your own assignment/time constraints, before calling you for help. Could their requests be put off to another time, or would patient safety be jeopardized if you didn't help...these sort of things need to be discussed. Again, the patient has to come first. If you're being asked to help out so much that your own pts. aren't getting adequate care, then that's one thing. If that isn't the case, then pitch in, smile, and do the right thing.
LOL, yes, sorry, that came off a bit strong. Actually, where I am at now has very independent and motivated nurses. They only call for help when it is needed. I was having flashbacks to my first job where I was abused. I was a new nurse then and had my own way of dealing with it........basically just told the nurses I didnt like not to ask for help and I didnt when they did ask. Not the best way, but it saved my back.
I just dont like it when it is discredited that we as male nurses have our own delimas to face. The whole "I would never do that" song and dance is soooo old. Yes, you do that. Maybe you are honest and your unit is one of the VERY few that doesn not, but I doubt it. On most units I have been to, dumping lifts and transfers onto the male staff is too common a part of the daily practice/routine.
Specializes in OR 35 years; crosstrained ER/ICU/PACU.
I'm glad you're in a better place now, it makes a big difference in your practice & outlook. As for my surgery center, we are in a different situation. Of the 15 full-time professional staff, 7 are males (includes our DON). I don't hesitate to ask for help moving a huge patient (and face it, there are an awful lot of them these days), & in turn the guys ask for help as well. Nobody wants to get hurt, or hurt anybody else. If I'm in the sterile core & they need something quickly, I'll be glad to run & get it, as they in turn would for me. I understand you guys have your own dilemmas to face: as I said, again, earlier, there are female pts. out there who don't want a male caring for them. I had to switch a case assignment recently because a woman's religion dictated a male not be in attendance unless he was the MD actually perfoming the surgery. Luckily we have several female anesthetists. My ex-husband is also an RN: he had problems in school with the OB rotation - not all the women wanted a male nursingi student around. Keep in mind, this was in the mid-70's (yes, we're "old nurses"!) when male nurses were few & far between. My ex was a Navy corpsman, injured in VietNam while taking care of a pt., so he felt he should keep helping people. What's funny is, as an ER nurse, wearing scrubs, of course, he was often called "doctor" by the patients. He would say, "no, I'm not the doctor....I'm a nurse, I work for a living!" And that's what we do.
you are perfectly right! I can lift a truck but at work I'm a nurse. Many female nurses do not respect us for our talents although we far out-perform them - we're just little girlies with muscles. A week for us is too much attention. How about 5 minutes and lets get back to business.
our previous don - female - always bought us all little trinkets - a lanyard, pen on a retractable clip, cups, etc, & used to attach them to a single rose for each of us, guys included. they got a kick out of it, we have a picture of them all holding their roses! our present don now schedules lunches &/or breakfasts (contributed by our docs, various vendors, & the don himself). the difference between male & female brains!!! food vs. flowers - go figure! at any rate, we celebrate each other for who we are - nurses - doesn't matter if you're male or female...we all do the job, we all help each other. it's called teamwork. and, by the way, back when i did floor nursing, i had my share of requests for help by male nurses, esp. for the elderly female pts. who voiced discomfort with a male bathing them or putting them on a bedpan. it works both ways, guys! we're glad to have you on-board! but stick to the nurses' week we have & enjoy!
BellaDestiny
18 Posts
AMEN TO THE UNITY! DEFINATELY NEEDED! thanks for bringing that up!